One Day More
by Jasmine James
Summary: "Well, Stevie boy, welcome to our world." You followed Adam, Eve, Gigi, Meg, and Sam in a trip through The Outsiders. But what will happen when things are in their court? SEQUEL TO IT ALL STARTED ON A COMPLETELY NORMAL DAY. Disclaimer: S.E. Hinton owns
1. Look Alive, Sunshine

**Well, aren't you all happy to hear from me? Well, I hope you are! I was thrilled to get all of my reviews! You guys are awesome! I think I have kept you waiting long enough. Please review, I want to know what you think with some of the new twists and turns I am taking!**

**Thank you to all my readers!**

**-Jasmine**

Ah, silence. It can be a beautful thing... Sshh... just listen to it. There it is... silence. It can be truly wonderful... _sometimes._ Right now?

Not one of those times.

All six greasers sat at the table, looking down at their food. None of them really wanted to eat anything yet they all know they really should. Though it was safe to say that the cold left over pepperoni pizza didn't look all to appitizing. The five girls were all leaning against counters and walls around the room. The gray-eyed redhead was leaning against the glass door to the deck. She couldn't stop looking at Pony. Honestly she couldn't believe he was there. Sure, she was surprised that the others were with them aswell but... Pony was there! If she reached out she could touch him! It just seemed so unreal.

The sun came in through the break in the red curtians. Meg marvled at as she watched the small bits of dust swirl around. They seemed to be dancing in the light. She couldn't help but let them hold her gaze. Meg liked the silence. It was a nice, peaceful thing to her. She would just so happy that Pony was there with her. She knew that the drama was coming but she could enjoy pretending that nothing happened for a while, couldn't she?

Across the room from Meg a blond haired girl leaned on the wall of the entrance to the study. She was further away from the boys than everyone else was. She didn't mind though, she was just taking everything in with her wide, crystal blue eyes. She was happy that Soda was there, she really was, but something was just.. off. She looked around at the others. Everyone seemed to be off in their own little worlds. She locked eyes with Soda. His coffee brown eyes seemed to light up when they did so. He gave her a small smile. Gigi's eyebrows furrowed together and she did her best to give a small smile back. Soda dropped his gaze and looked back at his cold piece of pizza.

Soda was wishing that he was closer to the others. He was alone at the head of the table. Pony was on his right in front of Meg. Next to Pony was Steve. Soda wished Steve would look up, it was just one of those times that he needed to just stare at someone and have them stare back. (Even though times like that make one look truly crazy, it gets the overall feeling of awkward out.) At the other head of the table directly across from him was Dallas. Dallas wouldn't look at him, so Soda didn't even bother; he didn't want to look at Dallas. He has cold eyes that made Soda scared, not that he would tell anyone that. Dallas just sat there, playing with the fringes of the light blue placemat before him. Soda was glad that the table wasn't set and Dallas didn't have easy access to a knife.

Next to Dallas was Darry. Darry really did look utterly confused. He was just sitting there, looking at his fingers. They were locked together. Darry kept rubbing his right thumb slowly over his left. Darry didn't even realize what he was doing. It was a habit that he had picked up while dating Sam. Whenever they held hands, (Which is more often that one might think.) he would rub her thumb. The motion felt lonely now and Darry wanted nothing more then to have Sam look at him.

Sam wasn't looking at Darry though. She wasn't looking at anyone. The honey haired collage grad (She had been moved up a grade in grade school and just finished college that year.) was suddenly finding her socks very interesting. (It's odd that Sam is wearing socks though. She almost NEVER wears socks in her house. Maybe it's just another sign that weird stuff is happening.) When they first showed up and she understood who they were she was thrilled, she had missed Darry a lot. Now she was just starting to feel guilty... guilty that she was going to have to break his heart.

Behind Sam, Adam was laying on the counter. Her back was propped up on the wall and her legs were spread out over the 5 feet of light blue plaster counter top. Adam was getting sick of the silence. Though she was thankful for one thing it brought her. She got to get a good look at the person she didn't recognize. He was sitting inbetween Darry and Soda. After a long while of trying to remember things that people had said and descriptions from the book Adam decided this newcommer was Johnny Cade.

After about 10 minutes of the silence, Adam finally decided she couldn't take it. She cleared her throat and everyone looked at her, waiting to see what sarcastic thing she might say this time. Though no sarcastic remark came out. She only frowned at Sam.  
"I have to go." She said, getting up from the seat she had made on the counter.

"Why?" Sam asked, turning to face the black haired girl who had never been quite as tall as her.

"I promised Dad that I would do at least three hours of kick boxing training. I need a punching bag." She told her. Adam stopped momentarily when she noticed truly how dead the room was.

"Unless Stevie here wants to volenteer to be that, I need to get home to the punching room." She joked, hoping that it might losen the tension.

It didn't.

"Okay." Sam told her, "I'll see you later then. I'll call you, we might need help if sleeping arrangment don't go too well..." Sam trailed off the sentence getting more and more awkward with every word. Adam nodded.

"I think Dale might have a place that's big enough. Her Ma and Dad are living in their summer home full time now so she's all alone." Sam nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind." She said. Another blanket of awkward fell over them again.

"Bye." Adam said one last time. She gave Sam a quick hug, waving a hand at the others.

"Either of you need a ride?" She asked the two. Gigi furrowed her eyebrows together again. (She seems to be doing that a lot lately.)

"In that small car you have? You won't even be able to get your bag in." She told her friend. Adam smiled. It was the first real smile the room had seen from any of the girls. Adam's sad tone turned to a bragging one.

"I finally finished fixing up that old '64 Ford F-100." Adam told her. Gigi smiled, glad her friend had finally gotten over her fear of the car.  
"Cool, but I think Meg and I are going back together." Meg nodded in agreement to what Gigi said and Adam sighed.

"Okay then, later guys." She told the room. (She seemed to be finally leaving this time.) She was halfway down the hall when a voice stopped her. (Oh, so close.)

"I used to have a '64 Ford F-100." Steve spoke up quetly. He remembered seeing it's mangled body after Adam had been finished with it. Adam spun around and locked eyes with Steve for the second time that day. She smirked.

"Yea, I know." She told him in a deathy quiet voice. Steve looked down. Adam figured he was done talking to her so she continued to the door.  
"Adam!" Steve called out again and tried to followed after her. (Though, he tripped over Dallas' chair and the stool next to Sam so it took him a bit longer then he thought it might.) By the time he finally got to Adam she was already halfway to the car.

"What, Steve?" Adam spat, fixing him with a green glare. He just looked behind her at the car.

"Wow, my car looked just like that." He muttered. Adam gave him a sad smile.

"That's because it IS your car." She told him.


	2. My Paper Heart

**Okay! Chapter two! I had a few people on my case...**

**cough cough... TYLER... cough cough...**

**Well, on with the show! I do not own The Outsiders and I don't own any of the songs I'm using as chapter titles... Poor me...**

**REVIEW!**

**-Jasmine**

Steve just looked at the car in silence. It could not be his car. That was just impossible. The car looked good as new. There were no dents, the scratches, no... nothing. (Steve is a very observant person.) He tore his gaze from the vehicle, only to see Adam roll her eyes at him. She walked back to the car. He looked at her back. She had changed, and it wasn't a bad change either. Steve was shamelessly staring. Her hair was long and deeply black, it had used to be a dark brown so she must have died it. She was wearing black gym shorts that were riding up, giving Steve a nice view of her legs. Her shirt was oddly fitted, something Steve had never seen her wear and it showed her curves very well. Steve was realizing something: Adam wasn't the sarcastic 17 year old he feel in love with. She was a 19 year old woman.

"Steve!" Steve spun around and saw Meg following him up the walk way. Adam was long gone now, he was just freezing his butt of looking at the place where she had been.

"I'm sorry, Meg." He told her, turning to go back inside. Meg stopped him though and point him to a small light blue convertible. She grabbed his arm.  
"Come on, you aren't telling me that you're giving up that easily." She told him and pushed him in the car.

"Where are we going?" Steve asked in a worried voice. Last he had checked Meg was just learning how to drive and she wasn't very good. Meg narrowed her gray eyes at him.  
"Adam's house, now come on. I'm not going to kill you or anything." Steve nodded and buckled his seat belt, hoping that the crazy ride would be over soon.

…

"Bastard!" Adam screamed over the loud music as she punched the bag again. Adam hadn't even greeted her father when she came home, not that he cared or anything. He knew that she was angry and he was probably happy, knowing that I meant the three hours of practice he was demanding would be fun for her. She had run upstairs, threw her bag on the floor, slapped on some gloves and started to beat the crap out of whatever she could. After a while longer something caught Adam's eye. It was a small piece of paper sticking out of her panrs. She bent down and looked at it. _Adam_ it read in a sloppy script. Adam curiously opened the yellowey paper. It looked like it had been sitting in her pants for years.

_Dear Adam,_

_ I have been staring at this paper for an hour now. I don't know what to write.__ I just want to tell you...__ Adam I love you. __Evie and I were just__... I don't know what to say to you Adam, I really don't. What happened in the garage... I'll tell you the whole truth then. Evie just came up to me. I told her I had a girlfriend and she started laughing. Then she started to kiss me. I tried to stop her, I really did. I'm only human Adam, I'm still a man. I'm sorry. I had dated Evie for years, I was so used to it. I am so sorry. My life without you is truely horrible. I haven't been on a date in two years. I haven't been on a date since the last one we had. Do you remember that? We went to __Margret's__. I remeber driving by it one time and you told me you heard it had amazing food. It was really expensive but I said, you are worth it. We went there and the food really was amazing. We had to wait for it to come for an hour __though, because they dropped your meal on the floor twice. Then we got a free dessert._

_ We went home after that. We stayed up late, sitting in my bed and just talking. I asked you, "Adam, if I asked you to marry me right now what would you say?" You told me, "No." In a heartbeat. I asked you why and you told me, "Becauase you're a greasy machanic. You didn't even get down on one knee." So then we went to bed._

_ The next day I remember you got mad at me because I kept zoning out. You asked me why and I told you I was thinking about last night. I was, but that wasn't the whole reason. I was thinking of a good was to propose to you. Adam. I want to marry you, I really do. I love you with all my heart. I was stupid to say that about my car. I was stupid to act like that to you. I was just so upset over what happened, so upset that I had lost you. ..._

_ That's all I have to say, I guess. Nothing more to put here. I love you, Adam. I'll never find a girl like you again. I'll die alone because I have a feeling I'll never be able to look for love again. You took my heart Adam, and when you left... you stole it. I don't know where it is because I don't know where you are. Just know, it'll always be with you._

_Wow, I'm turning into a pansy and I don't even care._

_I love you, Adam._

_Love,_

_Steve Randle_

Adam let the letter flutter to the ground. The world around her seemed to be fading away. She picked up the phone quickly.

"Hello?" A voice called out to her.

"Dale." Adam's voice came out harsh and horse, like she had just been running.

"Adam?"

"Yea."

"Hey, Adam! What's up?"

"I need you to come over right now, Dal." Adam plead.

"Sure. Why?" Dale asked. Adam shook her head, then realized that Dale couldn't see her.

"I don't want to think right now. I need to do some hand-to-hand combat or something."

"Perfect." Dale said, Adam could almost hear her smiling, "I'll be over in about five minutes." Adam thanked her and hung up the phone. She turned around and screamed. It was lucky she didn't punch out of reflix.

"Steve?" She asked and she look at the man standing in her room, "What are you doing here?" Steve looked down.

"I need to talk to you." He told her, "Now. I'm not letting you go this time."


	3. Dirty Little Secret

**Okay! Two chapters in one day! GO JASMINE! Okay, had a little moment there. **

**REVIEW!**

**Or die.**

**But not really...**

**-Jasmine**

"Bromance!" Dale screamed, kicking the door open. She couldn't have picked a better time to do so. Upon hearing Dale's loud entrance the couple quickly pulled apart. Dale's smiling face turned to a mocking, smirking one. She leaned up against the wall and raised an eyebrow. Her light brown eyes immediately became quite pleased. She had heard a few things about Adam swearing never to date... maybe she had been lying. She brushed a strand of her long light brown hair out of her eyes, something she did quite often.

"Well... Well..._Well._" She said, taking much joy from what she had found. Adam looked over at Steve and then at her friend. She touched her lips and furrowed her eyebrows together, not quiet sure of what she had been doing. She turned to look at Steve, who was sitting on the bench where they both had been.

"Steve..." She said in a regretful voice.

"Confession time!" Dale sang in a horribly taunting voice. Adam shot her friend a glare in an attempt to shut her up. (Which is completely pointless because if Adam had even KNOWN Dale she would be aware that Dale ALWAYS said what she wanted to say.) Dale turned to Steve.

"I'm sorry you had to find out like this." She told him, "But she is MY girlfriend!" Both Steve's and Adam's eyebrows went up, but Dale only continued in a louder voice, "Sorry to disappoint you but this girl is TAKEN. Don't go telling us it's wrong! We don't' care if we're both girls!" She yelled, grabbing Adam's hand, pulling her close, and putting a protective arm around her, "We are in LOVE!" Steve was speechless and was giving the girl a completely terrified and not to mention, weird-ed out look. After a long moment both Adam and Dale broke out in hysterical laughter. Both of them were clutching the door and walls to stay up. Adam was actually pointing at Steve and laughing. Between shallow gasps for air Adam managed to get out,

"Your...face!" Steve frowned, watching curiously -and a bit scared- as the girls continued to laugh. After a long while of crazed laughter both girls were finally able to stand and say a few words without fear of falling over or becoming subject to another insane laughing attack.

"Come on, Darc" Adam told her friend and waved her out the door while grabbing her bag.

"Anon!" Dale yelled and followed her out the door.  
"Wait!" Steve called and jumped off the bench to catch up to them. The girls turned around and pursed their lips together, widening their eyes. Steve was taken aback for a moment. He'd never really realized how much they acted like each other.

"Yes?" Dale asked in an annoyed voice when Steve didn't say anything.

"Where are you going?" He finally asked. Adam and Dale exchanged a look before Adam turned to him and said in a very, "duh" tone,  
"The gym." Steve watched her, waiting for her to just break out in a smile and tell him what he should do.

"And what am I going to do?" He asked after a long moment. Adam tapped her chin.

"Well, call this number," She told him and scribbled Sam's number down on his hand, "Ask one of them to drive up and get you then find a place to stay for the night."

"Ain't I staying here?" He asked her. Why was she acting so weird. Hadn't they made up? Wasn't he in the clear?  
"I don't think so, ask Sam what the plan for everyone else is. We have to go now, bye." She told him and hurried out the door with Dale before he could get another word in.

…

"I can't believe I was so stupid!" Adam screamed as she kicked the bag with a tremendous amount of force. Dale stumbled back, the kick even pushing her. Adam must have been pretty mad to be using that much force.

"Okay." Dale said in a desperate attempt to calm her friend down, "Okay. Who is hell is he? Why was he in your room? And WHY were you kissing?" Adam sighed and went over to the leg press, Dale followed her, not going to give up that quickly. When Adam realized that Dale would never let up she turned to her.

"His name is Steve. I dated him for a year." She told her in an angry voice as she pressed against the weights.

"When? I never heard anything of this!" Dale complained. Adam rolled her eyes.

"This is the part where you are going to think that I am crazy." She warned. Dale let out a little laugh.

"I've known that you are crazy for years. I've already got that down. Just tell me." Adam sighed and continued,  
"Well, I don't know how it happened but one night when me, Gigi, Meg, and Eve were at Sam's we somehow... got transported into a book."

"That's weird." Dale told her and put a hand on her forehead, "Maybe you should take a break and drink some water or something. We've been at this for hours. I think all the hard work is getting to you." She advised. Adam ignored her and continued to work the leg press.

"I'm serious, ask any of the other girls!" Dale just rolled her eyes.  
"Okay, just finish the story." She told her friend is a weary voice. Adam nodded and continued.  
"I hated him. Like, really hated him. But then, stuff happened and he kissed me and..." Adam drifted off, a happy smile appearing on her face. Dale raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"And?" She promted. The weights that Adam had been lifting dropped with a loud _BANG!_

"Then he went off and kissed some no good tramp!" Adam yelled and stood up, quickly returning to the punching bag to take out her anger.

"That dirty, cheating...!" Adam continued to mutter curse words as she slammed the bag with harsh, blunt force. (She had always had a good punch.) Dale didn't say anything. She honestly didn't know _what_ to say. For a moment there Adam had sounded happy, maybe even love struck. The Adam she knew coulnd't sound that way if she tried! Now, as crazy as she was sounding, she knew she was speaking the truth. Adam wasn't that good of an actress. Dale sighed as she held the punching bag for her friend.

"So... kissing Steve was bad?" She asked. Adam stopped for a moment and looked at her friend.

"Kissing Steve was bad." She repeated.

…

Sam continued to pace as she looked around the room. With the absence of Steve, Adam, and Meg things were not doing better. Her mind was racing, where could she get everyone to stay? How long would they be there? How was she going to tell Darry? Sam's frantic thoughts were cut off when she heard the door close. She looked down the hallway to see Meg walked up to her. She looked around the room and saw that nothing much had changed.

"Well..." She said as she was met by sad gazes, "Don't stop the party because of me." Sam just shook her head.

"I don't know where everyone is going to sleep." Sam told her in a worried voice. She was feeling horrible. When they had just randomly shown up they got a nice place to stay. Well, they had won a nice place to stay and they weren't really staying in the best place on Earth... but it was still better than just kicking them out! She couldn't kick them out.

"What about Dale?" Gigi asked. Sam frowned.

"I don't want to intrude..." She told her. Meg laughed.

"I've met Dale." She told the honey-haired adult, "Trust me, she won't mind. Her house is big and empty. She'll be more than happy." Sam sighed and brushed a strand of her hair away from her face.

"I guess." Sam finally agreed. After having watched Sam ponder the question of where they might be staying for half an hour the gang finally decided that it was safe to speak.

"So, who is this Dale guy?" Soda asked, glad he can finally talk. He hated being quiet.

"She." Meg corrected.

"Sorry." Soda said and looked at the placemat, playing with the blue fringes.

"It's fine. She's really fun. She's a lot like Adam." Meg told him. He smiled.

"Cool! When do we get to meet her?" He asked. Meg shrugged.

"I'll go call her." She said and took her number off the counter, going into the other room to call Dale. Sam nodded and went back to pacing in the kitchen. To the counter to the bathroom and back. Over and over. Before she knew it there was a rough hand on her waiting making her stop.

"Quiet it." Darry told her, "It's fine. You're making me dizzy." Sam looked up a him with concern.

"But will it really be fine?" She asked. He gave her a calming look.

"It will be. You worry too much. I'm sure we'll find jobs and a place to sleep and everything will be fine." He told her. He still couldn't belive she was there. She was in his arms. He was forgetting all about the fight. He didn't care about the fight. She was his. All his. He was going to prove it.

"Come on." He told her and leaned down to give her a kiss. Their lips were almost touching when she held up a hand to stop him.  
"I can't." She told him a quiet voice. Darry's eyes narrowed playfully.  
"And why not?" He asked in a teasing voice, foolishly wondering if she was still mad at him because of the fight. His foolish manner stopped at one when she explained. She wiggled her ring finger on her left hand.

"Because, Darry." She told him in a sorrow filled voice, "I'm engaged."


	4. The Only Hope for Me is You

**Hello all! Been a while hasn't it? Well, with miderms and everything I've been getting none ot much time to write! But here it is, and another CLIFF HANGER! **

**Just for you Rae.**

**And you Destiny.**

**FOR SASSING ME.**

**-Jasmine**

Meg walked into the hallway to call Dale. She had met the girl for a little while but, much like Adam, once you spent five minutes with her you know exactly what she acts like. She quickly dialed and after three rings, was met with a voice.

"Hello?" It called out to her.

"Hello." Meg said in a quiet yet cheerful voice, "Is this Dale?"

"Um, yea. Who is this?" Dale asked back with a curious tone.

"Oh, I'm Meg. You probably don't remember-" Meg started to say but was cut off by her friend.

"Meg! I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Yea... So, Dale. This might seem a little odd but-" Meg was once again cut off.

"You got transported into a book? Yea, got that." Meg was taken aback by her words.

"How did you-"

"Adam." Meg sighed. Dale was always cutting her off. Whether it was just because she was good at predicting what people would say or she was just a chatty person, she didn't know.

"You talked to Adam?"

"Yea. I'm with her right now. We're at the gym. Damn, Adam is angry."

"Oh, so Steve missed Adam!" Meg said, though more to herself than Dale.

"No, I saw that Steve kid too." Dale told her.

"Really?" Meg asked, stunned, "Did they seem like they were getting along alright?"

"Well, when I walked in they were kissing, but now Adam is really pissed about it. Dang, this kid is messing Adam up!" Meg laughed at this, knowing that Steve really had changed Adam. Though she didn't call to just laugh about the abnormal ways of Adam; she needed to know about getting the boys a place to stay.

"So, you're living by yourself, right?" Meg asked.

"Um, yea. Why?" Came Dale's unsure reply.

"Well, as you know, the boys are all here. We need a place to let them sleep..." Meg trailed off; hoping that, as usual, Dale you know what she meant.

"No problem." Dale told her, "I'll be home in half an hour. I'll meet you guys there."

"Thanks Dale!" Meg said and Dale just laughed at her before saying goodbye and hanging up.

Meg was about to go back into the kitchen to tell the other the good news but she heard a loud, "What?" that was followed by, "Darry? where are we going?" upon hearing that Meg decided it might be better to just stay in the hallway.

"Hey." A voice called out to her. Meg turned around and saw Pony leaning against the door.

"Hey." She said back in a quiet voice; she brushed her hair in front of her ears in an attempt to hide them because she just KNEW they would be bright red. Pony walked over and grabbed her hand. He pushed the hair back to he could see her ears.

"I missed you." He told her in a quiet voice. Meg smiled up at him.

"I missed you, too." She told him. He returned her smile and leaned down; kissing her like he had been wanting to for two years.

…

Darry pulled Sam out onto the porch, ignoring her protest and the weird looks he was getting from the gang. Once he was out there he silently thanked God for Ponyboy; he smiled at his older brother and then closed the curtains so that the nosey people who were still left in the kitchen were not able to watch them.

"Darrel! What are you doing?" Sam asked as he started to pace on the porch.

"Please." Darry told her, grabbing her hand and looking at the solid gold ring littered with small diamonds, "Please tell me this is a joke. Please!" He begged her. Sam looked down at him and pulled her hand out of his.

"I can't." She told him in a small voice. Darry shook his head and took her own head in his hands.

"Tell me this is a joke! Come on! It's been long enough, this isn't funny!"

"Darrel!" Sam yelled and tried to push him off of her, "I'm not joking! Now, please, get a hold of yourself!" Darry just looked down at her. He could not believe it. He and Sam had fought, sure, but she was getting married?

To another man?

"You're all I live for." He whispered. Sam looked up and meet Darry's eyes with her own, tearful ones.

"Just go." She whispered. Darrel just gave Sam one last look before he turned to go back into the house.

"What's his name?" He asked in a quiet voice.

"Joe." Sam whispered, "Joe Gray."

…

"Welcome all!" Dale greeted as she lead the Greasers into her home. Adam could be heard laughing from the kitchen where she, along with the other girls, was enjoying a light snack. The Greasers all filed in and looked around at the house. Dale's parents were rich alright. Not like you would pick that up from the way Dale acted. (As far as terms went; Dale was a Soc but acted like a total bad-ass Greaser.) While most of the gang simply looked around in awe, totally stunned that they lucked out and got to stay in as cool a place as that, a certain blonde Greaser was leaning against a wall and grumbling like there was no tomorrow.

"So we're living in a Soc home?" He muttered. This caught Dale's notice. She had read the book and Adam had once suggested that Dale lived like a Soc. Well... that got Adam a punch to the face. (Thankfully that didn't do too much damage. Dale was so angry she pretty much missed.)

"Shut your trap Winston." Dale spat and turned around to help get to others settled in. Dallas, however, was not going to lose the fight that easy. He got off the wall and sauntered over to where Dale was.

"You gonna make me?" He hissed.

"Is that a challenge?" Dale answered back in a voice that was equally venomous. (Dale was a generally peaceful person, it was one of the only things that separated her from Adam, but when you got in her face...) Thankfully though, Dallas and Dale were saved a fist fight by Sam butting in.

"Now now, break it up. No need to get blood on this nice carpet." She joked. Adam came up behind her, laughing.

"Yea, guys." She teased, "Stop flirting!"

"Hey!" Dale yelled out, clearly offended by her friend's comment. Adam smirked at her. (It's creepy how much her and Steve's smirks are alike...)

"Consider it payback for the girlfriend comment." She told her and went back to finish her discussion with Meg about the probability that there are monks in Antarctica and whether or not they snuggle with penguins.

"So where will we be sleeping?" Darry asked, sneaking a look at Sam. He was none too pleased to see her sitting on the bar counter stool and playing with her ring.

"I have a few guest rooms. Two to a room." The gang nodded and went to go claim their rooms. Though they never got to because they were pulled back down the large staircase by a spaced out voice calling in,

"Anybody home?" Adam nudged Dale in the ribs. (She had finished her discussion with Meg. Yes to both questions by the way.)

"Oh. I forgot to tell you guys! Now that my parents are gone I thought that I would be living by myself. I called my cousin to see if she wanted to stay with me." She told the group and then turned to the voice, "In here!"

"Coming!" She voice called back. Everyone looked to the door, eager to see the new arrival. Then she danced in. Yes. Danced. Not walked, skipped, hopped, or ran. Danced. She was wearing quite the costume. Her dirty blonde hair was in a messy bun on the side of her head. There were colored streaks running throughout it and it was topped off with a large metal bow. Her hazel-ish green eyes had a distant quality and it made you wonder if she was secretly sleep walking. She had about seven necklaces on. Each were dog tags. Band after band labeled them. Up her arms were long fishnet gloves. They matched the fishnet tights that she wore. Not that you would be able to see the tights, though. Only a small patch around her knee was visible. One her feet she wore leather boots that were very high. Above her knee was a frayed plaid skirt. She wore two belts, clearly not being able to decide which one she had wanted to wear more and settling on the two of them. Last she was decked in a black shirt with a large skull on it that seemed to be made of the word, "Society". She looked around the room and gave a small wave.

"This..." Dale introduced with a wave of her hand, "Is Tyler."

"Hola chicka-lickas!" She greeted. The room was silent upon her entry. (Even ADAM didn't have anything to say. Not even STEVE could think of some smart comment!) Finally, after a long time of waiting, Ponyboy turned to Sodapop who was next to him.

"Did she just call us chick lickers?" He asked in a scared voice. Sodapop just looked at him. He then turned back to the girl. She was now looking around the room and humming to herself. She twirled a loose strand of her hair on her finger. Sodapop turned back to his brother.

"What does that even _mean_?"


	5. Disenchanted

**Okay! Me again! Good to see me? It is... Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been going through a lot. Two people close to me died this week and I haven't really been ready to write a happy chapter.**

**So this chapter is happy.**

**Or is it?**

**I don't know...**

**Or do I?**

**(Review)**

**-Jasmine**

**Ps. Don't look behind you.**

**Pps. Can anyone tell me how many semicolons are in this?**

In most families dinner is a generally peaceful thing. Often everyone gets to go around and talk about their day. You enjoy a nice, fine meal and then you settle down and go to bed. At Dale's home, this was not the case. What was their fine meal? Spaghetti. Was there vanilla in it? Yes. Did any of it end up getting eaten? Well, a bit within the first five minutes. You see... it all started when Steve was trying to get Adam's attention.

Everyone was sitting down at the table. Dale had Sam, Gigi, Meg, and Adam stay for dinner along with her other guests. Sam and Gigi were talking about something that was making Sam visually upset. Darry, who was sitting across from Sam, was giving Gigi daggers for saying whatever she said that was making Sam so sad. Dallas and Pony were both talking to Meg. Pony didn't care at all about what they were talking about. He just liked hearing Meg's voice. Dallas was relying on her every word like his life depended on it. She was telling him about where Eve was and how she wasn't coming back. (They had tried. Eve was not leaving her mother. No matter what.) Then there was Johnny who was sitting next to Tyler. Johnny was just watching as she waved her arms around. She was talking to Adam in a very animated way about some drummer and singer of some band and something they did in a music video. Johnny didn't understand any of it so he wasn't even trying anymore to do so. Across from Tyler was Sodapop who was just looking at Gigi with a mix of confusion. (He was probably trying to figure out what she was telling Sam.) Next to Sodapop, of course, was Steve. Steve was sitting directly across from Adam and had been trying to catch her eye all night with NO luck. Finally, in a stroke of something that he didn't even plan, he did catch her eye. How, you ask?

By throwing spaghetti in it.

"What the heck?" Adam had screamed and retaliated with a throw of her own. After a few seconds there was fully fledged food war. Let's just say: even though it was fun, Dale's mother's $3,000 silk table cloth didn't make it though.

There would be no more spaghetti in that house.

Ever.

So after all the girls had left Dale's house, (Except Dale, because Dale lived there), and Tyler (because Tyler was living there, too.) everyone decided that they would wash up and go to bed. Ponyboy and Johnny, who were going to be sharing a room, however came across a little problem...

Johnny walked over to his bed and tapped Tyler lightly on the shoulder.

"Um... Tyler?" He asked. Tyler turned stopped laying out her blanket and turned to face him with a smile.

"Ty. I go by Ty." She told him. Johnny was taken aback.

"Okay... Ty..." He tried again. Tyler nodded and he continued, "This is kind of my bed." Tyler's eyes widened.

"What? I always sleep in this room though..." She seemed to mutter to herself, "I'll use this bed then." She said and took her blanket to Pony's bed.

"I'm sleeping there." Pony lightly told her. Tyler shook her head.

"I guess I'll sleep in the closet then..." She told them and opened the closet door. She stuck her head in and looked around measuring the space. Ponyboy and Johnny exchanged a worried look.

"If it's that much of a big deal we'll move." Johnny told her. Tyler turned around and smiled at him.

"Thanks!" She said and moved back to setting up her bed. Pony glared at Johnny but the black haired Greaser only held his hands up in defense.

"Come on, Pony. We'll sleep somewhere else." He told the younger one. Pony grumbled but followed him out the door anyways, leaving Tyler and her odd ways behind.

…

Dallas looked around the living room and everyone else ate breakfast. He had never been one for eating breakfast. He didn't like it. It was too early to eat. So Eve was gone? He'd live. He didn't need her. He would just find someone else. Who knew how long they would be here in this crazy world? Maybe they would be gone tomorrow. Maybe they were only brought back so they could have a little check in on the girls. Maybe it was a sign that Dallas should move on. Eh. Sign or not he was moving on. If he ever got back maybe he could go back to Sylvia. She was okay. She didn't love him. He didn't love her. That's really how their relationship worked. They were honestly more sleeping buddies than anything. That didn't mean that he liked other guys making a move on her, that would make her seem like a slut and Dallas didn't just sleep with sluts. Then it would seem like the only girl he could get was a slut. He can get any girl he wanted...

"Feet off the table, Winston!" Dale called in. Dallas rolled his eyes as he looked at the teen. He took his feet off and she turned away. He smirked and placed his feet on the coffee table again. He would go back to Sylvia, yes... but what would he do while he was stuck there? He needed a girl. Where to find one...

"I said, feet off the table, Winston!"

Dallas rolled his eyes and did not move his feet.

…

Adam walked through the door of Dale's house.

"Honey, I'm home!" She yelled and walked over to where Dale was sitting eating some cereal.

"Quit talking to Steve." Dale muttered. (She wasn't a morning person.) Adam glared and took Dale's cereal away.

"HEY!" Dale yelled and Adam held it high over her head.

"What are you going to do about it?" She asked, annoyed at her friend's comment. Suddenly the bowl was gone from Adam's hands and back in Dale's.

"What?" Adam asked and looked around. She saw Sam standing behind her and shaking her head.

"What are you doing here, Sam?" Adam asked. Sam smile and patted her friend on the head.

"Looking for you, I knew you would be here."

"How?" Dale asked. Sam laughed.

"She always comes here for breakfast." Sam told her. Dale and Adam exchanged a look before laughed.

"So true..." Adam told her and patted Sam on the back, "So what did you need me for?" She asked and walked over to Darry, who was drinking milk and holding a banana and taking his banana.

"Hey!" Darry said once he finally finished his milk. Adam, who had already peeled the banana, stuffed a bite in her mouth.

"What?" She asked, showing off a mouth full of chewed banana.

"Ew, you keep it." Darry told her and went to get another. Steve, who had been watching from the counter, laughed.

"Anyways..." Sam said, trying to get Adam's attention back without getting Darry's, "We're going dress shopping today." Thankfully, THAT got Adam's attention... but it also got Darry's.

"Dress shopping? For what?" Adam and Dale both gave Darry a, "really?" look and said at the same time,

"Pants." They laughed, and high fived.

"Sam..." Adam said, forgetting Darry's idiocy and turning to her friend, "I thought we already got your wedding dress. You're getting your mom's dress tailored and wearing that." Sam laughed and shook her head, totally ignoring the anger that was rising in Darry. (Quiet visibly too.)

"Not for me!" Sam told Adam, "We're getting your dress!" Adam's smirk was gone in an instant. The whole house went quiet. (Except for Tyler who was upstairs, you could still hear the faint noises of her singing in the shower.) There was a faint CLINK as Steve's fork fell onto his plate.

"What?" Adam hissed out.

"Oh, come ON. You're going to be my maid of honor. You're not going without a nice dress." Adam groaned.

"Is it black at least?" Sam gasped.

"No! It is going to be pink and match the invitations!" Adam gagged.

"Only for you," She muttered and began to leave.

"Oh come on!" Dale yelled after them, "You know that Danny will find it SEXY!" Adam rolled her eyes.

"Will you guys let that go?" The girls seemed to be willing to let it go, but Steve, however, was not.

"Who is Danny?" He asked. He had half a mind to add, "and why is he thinking MY girl is sexy?" but he bit his tongue. Sam smiled.

"Her, ADMIRER," She teased and fluffed Adam's hair.

"Stop it!" Adam protested and muttered, "He's not my admirer anymore..." This got Sam's attention.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Well, he called me last night and asked me out." She whispered.

"What did you say?" Sam asked. Her eyes were almost as wide as Darry's muscles. (Which is like... scary big...) Steve, who was suddenly very nervous didn't hear her answer.

"What?" He asked. Adam lifted her head and looked right at him.

"I said yes."


	6. It Ends Tonight

Okay. Me again. Thank you for all the review. Don't kill me.

I would like to put this chapter in the name of a good friend of mine. Morgan, you rock. AND you have very good dinosaur chicken nuggets. I am very excited for this. Don't forget, no matter how bad it seems... well I'm here!

Now a brief message to all my readers:

DO. NOT. KILL ME.

Just wanted to get that across.

Warning: This chapter may make some people want to cry. I don't know why. But it may. This chapter also may make some people very happy. In both cases it is not okay to like a fire extinguisher.

Let's just have a bromance, okay?

-Jasmine

ps. Scared yet?

"You. Look. So. Adorable!" Sam squealed as Adam walked out in her billionth dress.

"Please tell me we're done now." Adam moaned. She hated shopping. She hated that the moment you were comfortable in one outfit you had to take it off and try another one. She hated the preppy sales girl who was helping them find, "the one" and she hated, HATED, the fact that she, Adam Aviron, was wearing a dress.

A DRESS!

What would her father say...?

"We've been trying on dresses for...forever!" She complained. Sam shook her head and checked her watch.

"We've been trying on dresses for three hours." She corrected with a raised eyebrow and a teasing smile.

"Exactly!" Adam yelled, "This is too much. My brain is going to explode. Three hours of my life... gone." Sam laughed at how dramatic her friend was being. She really was something... Sam looked over Adam one last time. She just wanted this wedding to be perfect... no matter what Darry did she was getting married. They wouldn't be here forever. She would just have to wait it out...

"Yea..." Sam finally said, "This one really is perfect." Sam loved the dress and couldn't help but be a bit jealous. It was a hot pink color that hugged her form tightly. It went down to her knee and then began a side swept cut down to her left ankle. Adam smiled. Sam wasn't sure if this was because of the compliment or out of relief that she could finally get back into pants. Either way, the honey haired bride-to-be was pleased to see her friend smile again.

"Hey, Sam?" Adam asked as she paid for the dress,

"Yea?"

"My date is in three days... is it bad I'm nervous?" She asked as she twirled a piece of hair around on her finger and Sam almost laughed. (It was such an un-Adam like thing to do.)

"My little girl is growing up!" She teased. Adam rolled her eyes.

"Shut up." She commanded, though she knew that Sam was getting too much joy out of this and probably wouldn't. Once both girls were in the car Sam turned to her.

"You actually like Danny... right?" She asked. Adam gave her friend a confused look.

"Well... yea. Why do you ask?" she asked back. Sam looked down at her perfectly manicured fingers.

"I was just worried you were using him to make Steve jealous..." She whispered. That question was able to silence Adam the rest of the way to the bakery where they would meet up with Hunter and check in on the cake.

…

Tyler, who was close to getting punched in the face by Dallas, began to bounce her leg again as a commercial come on. Dallas watched the leg with fury. It was easily the single most annoying thing in the whole entire world. He was contemplating whether or not he should just cut it off. Let's see how well she can bounce it then. His inner monologue of violence was stopped short, however, when said girl began to speak.

"I'm bored...!" She whined. Dallas again found the urge to shoot himself but before he could get a chance to say anything particularly nasty to her someone else spoke up.

"Too bad." Steve grumbled. Tyler frowned and began to bite her nails.

Her leg kept bouncing.

"Ty, knock it off." Dale told her and shoved her leg.

"Mean." Tyler told her cousin but Dale just shrugged.

"Is it?" She asked. Tyler shook her head.

"You always do that!" She complained and went back to biting her nails.

"Okay." Dale told her, "I have an idea. We're going to have the girls over tonight." Dale paused to glare at Steve, "And we are NOT having spaghetti." She added, "But they are bringing their friend Hunter over."

"Who's Hunter?" Darry interrupted.

"Hunter Gray?" Pony asked. Dale nodded.

"How did you know?"

"Meg mentioned something about it." Dale nodded and went back to explaining to Tyler.

"She's Joe's sister." Dale told him. Soda grumbled something along the lines of, "hate her already." and Darry looked down, still getting angry about Joe. Dale ignored them though and went back to Tyler once more.

"Well, we were going to watch a movie. Do you think you could go to the movie store and pick one out?" She asked. Tyler smiled.

"I get to pick?" She asked. Dale nodded and Tyler jumped up, clapping her hands, "Yay! Okay." She said and started for the door.

"Wait!" She said and turned around. Dale sighed along with pretty much everyone in the room. So close...

"What?" Dale asked.

"I need a friend to come with me. There was a scary guy at the store last time who was asking me all these questions about my friends and my auto insurance." She told them. Dale sighed.

"Okay, pick someone to go with you." She told her. Tyler looked around, tapping her finger on her chin.

"Enie Meanie Minie Moe..." She said and pointed at people.

"Hurry it up." Dallas snarled. Tyler pouted and stopped.

"Come on, Johnny!" She said and continued out the door. Johnny smiled and shook his head, laughing, and followed her out the door. She really was just like a five year old...

…

Once Johnny and Tyler came back it was around dinner time. (They had spent a long time picking out a good movie. There were just so many options! Then there was if they wanted HD or Blue-ray and if they wanted to get snacks too... it's a process.) Just as Dale was setting the last of the table there was a loud slam of the door.

"Adam is here." Dale announced and not even a moment later there was a loud voice calling in,

"Oh darling! Where might you be?" Dale laughed and called her in. Adam walked in and looked at the table.

"What are we having?" She asked. Dale smiled at her.

"Dinosaur chicken nuggets," She announced. Adam jumped up and down.

"My favorite!" She told her friend and hugged her. Tyler, who had also just heard the news began to jump up and down also.

"Me too!" Adam turned around and smile at her.

"I like you." She announced and went back to where Sam was.

"You have to tell him." Sam told Gigi. Gigi looked down.

"It's tomorrow." Meg reasoned, "You can't put it off any longer." Adam looked at them all confused.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. Meg gave Gigi a confused look.

"You didn't tell her?" She asked.

"She would blab." Gigi reason and Adam looked down in "shame".

"I'll do it after dinner." She told her and left to go talk to Tyler. There was a small knock on the door and Dale hurried over to get it, not wanting one of the boys to. (The last time that had happen they mentally scarred a pizza man.) She opened it and was meet by the smiling face of Hunter.

Hunter is a regular visitor at Dale's house. Sam meet Joe and Joe introduced her to Hunter. Sam then had Hunter meet Adam to help with the wedding plans. Adam took her one day to kickboxing practice where Hunter had meet Dale. Hunter and Dale became good friends almost instantly.

"Hey Hunt!" Dale greeted and moved aside so Hunter could come in. Dale went around and introduced her to everyone. Lastly she introduced Sodapop.

"Hey." Hunter greeted. Sodapop only glared.

"What's your problem?" She asked.

"You're my problem." He spat out, "Your brother broke my brother's heart. You're not okay in my books." He told her and stalked off into the kitchen. Hunter looked down. For some odd reason, out of all the insults she had ever gotten, that hurt her the most.

…

"Sodapop, can I talk to you?" Gigi asked as the movie was just ending. Sodapop nodded and they both went out onto the porch to talk.

"What's up?" Sodapop asked. Gigi squeezed her eyes shut tight. She just had to do it. Rip it off like a bandage.

"I'm leaving." She whispered. Soda's eyes went wide.

"What?" He asked in a horse voice, almost sounding strangled.

"My Dad is getting transferred. They whole family is moving." She told him. Sodapop's eyes franticly darted around.

"Well... you'll come back soon. You're going to be 18. At 18 you can leave." He told her in a desperate voice. Gigi shook her head.

"We're getting transferred to Singapore." She told him. He looked down.

"I'll come with you." He told her, his head lifting up. Gigi shook her head. She couldn't put him through that. She couldn't put his family through that.

"No Sodapop. You have to stay here." She told him. She was starting to cry but she had to stop herself.

"No! I love you. When you love someone... it's worth it." He defended. Gigi squeezed her eyes closed again and sighed. She didn't want to have to do this...

"It isn't worth it." She told him.

"Why not?" Gigi took another deep breath and opened her eyes. She had to lie through her teeth but it would help him. Just rip it off like a bandage...

"I never loved you."


	7. Party Poison

**Dum de dum de dum... had fun with this chapter!**

**Review darlings!**

**A FEW QUESTIONS!**

**Okay. First question. If you could see Dallas with any of the girls (NOT COUNTING GIGI AND EVE) who would it be?**

**Second question. Favorite character? (Girl characters only.) **

**-Jasmine**

Meg and Pony were finally getting some alone time. After Gigi had left Soda freaked out. Like... really freaked out. He threw a lamp. (Hunter ducked, don't worry.) But now here they were, enjoying a plate of vanilla spaghetti together. (It was kind of THEIR dish.)

"This is nice." Meg said quietly. Pony smiled at her.

"I know. We're the only ones left. Unless you're going to suddenly tell me you secretly love someone else or you're leaving." Pony teased.

"Well..." Meg trailed off.

"What?" Pony yelled.

"Just kidding," Meg mumbled with a smirk. Pony smile and pushed her lightly. Their very cute moment was cut short, however, by Ponyboy getting shot in the forehead.

"What the…?" Pony yelled and brought a hand up to his forehead. His fingers came back wet, sticky, and bright red.

"Pony!" Meg yelled and looked at his fingers, "This isn't blood..." She noticed. Though before either of them could look around for an explanation Dale and Adam burst through the door. Both holding… guns?

"My kill!" Adam yelled and threw a fist in the air.

"Nuh-uh!" Dale argued, "That was so my kill."

"No. Look! It's red. My bullets are red. You bullets are purple." Adam reasoned. Dale hung her head in shame but then something caught her eye.

"What?" She complained, "I missed Pony's GIANT forehead but I hit the pasta?" All eyes turned to the spaghetti and, sure enough, it was oozing an odd purple colored blood.

"Okay." Meg said as Pony was franticly trying to wipe the red paint off his forehead, "What is going on?" Adam shrugged.

"Epic paintball war," She opened up her jacket to display a rack of guns and ammo, "You in?"

"I'll pass." Meg said with a worried look and Pony nodded his head in agreement.

"Wait. Isn't tonight your night with that Danny kid?" Pony asked.

"Yea... I still have, like an hour though."

"You're not getting ready?" Meg asked. Adam glared.

"Oh go make kissy face with your boyfriend." Meg looked extremely offended by this but she didn't get a chance to say anything. Adam took that moment to attack the distracted Dale. She pulled her gun up and held it to her head.

"Aw man!" Dale yelled.

"You saw nothing." Adam hissed and pushed Dale and herself out of the room.

"Well that was weird." Pony announced and Meg nodded in agreement.

"You never know with Adam. I think Dale makes her even crazier." There was a thunk as Pony's hands flew up to his forehead where there was now a green dot.

"Oh, come on!" Pony yelled. Not even a moment later Hunter burst into the room.

"I can't believe I hit you!" She rejoiced.

"Yea, yea I know." Pony said and tried to clean his forehead again, "I have a big forehead. Why are you all shooting it?" Hunter laughed.

"You're forehead isn't that big..." She mumbled, "Anyways, we're in a paint ball war." She told them.

"So we've heard." Meg informed her.

"Why does that mean you have to shoot me?" Pony questioned again. (Quiet the inquisitive kid, isn't he?)

"Well... every time you hit someone you get a point. Though Adam said if we hit you we would get ten points." Hunter explained. Meg shook her head.

"Oh for the love of…!" Pony yelled but then cried out in pain, "Ow! What the..?" He wondered and felt the back of his head. It came back purple. In the distance you could hear Dale crying out in victory.

"I didn't miss this time!" She rejoiced and Hunter aimed a bullet toward the voice.

"OW!" Dale cried and Hunter laughed.

"Later guys!" She told them and hurried off before someone else found her. Meg and Pony exchanged a glace.

"We better get out of here." Meg told him.

"Agreed," Said Pony and they both went into the dining room to hide under the table.

…

"Gotcha!" Adam yelled and shot Dale in the back. Though, when Dale turned around Adam saw that it actually wasn't Dale. It was Ty.

"Oh... Sorry Ty." Adam apologized.

"It's fine." Tyler told her, "What are you doing?"

"I, Dale, and Hunt are all in an epic paintball battle. You want in?" She asked and displayed her guns once again. Tyler smiled.

"Sure!" She told her and Adam tossed her a gun along with some ammo.

"Okay. Rules: Two points if you hit someone. Ten points if you hit Ponybo- ow!" Adam yelled out in pain when Tyler shot her in the leg.

"What the heck, man?" She asked. Tyler just shrugged.

"You were wide open." She told her with an innocent grin.

"Oh it's on." Adam said and brought her gun up to shoot Tyler in the shoulder but she was gone before she could.

"Damn that kid is fast." Adam said and went on to look for others and see if some of the boys wanted to play.

…

30 minutes and 348 points later Pony and Meg were getting really frustrated. Adam had gotten everyone to play. All the gang and all the girls! (Which is only Dale, Hunter, Ty, Adam and Sam. Yea. Sam played. She was better with a gun then you might think...) the word had gotten out that if you hit Pony you get a lot of points. After couple of seconds there was a close call with a colorful bullet.

"God sometimes I really hate Adam." Meg complained. Pony nodded.

"Ouch!" He yelled as a black dot appeared on his arm. (Tyler.) There was a faint giggling in the distance.

"You see what I mean?" Meg yelled.

"Shhh... we don't need MORE people to find us." Pony told her.

"Sorry." Meg said quietly. Pony smiled.

"It's okay. This isn't so bad. If I had to be stuck under a table being shot at with anyone, I'm glad it's you." He told her.

"Aww..." Meg said quietly. Pony smiled and leaned down to kiss her. Their lips were just about touching when a colorful bullet found its way to Pony' cheek.

"What color?" Pony asked, not being able to see it.

"Blue." She told him. Pony growled.

"Stupid, Steve." He told her, "Now where were we...?"

…

Sodapop walked down the hallway silently. He had one target and one target only.

Hunter.

He wasn't sure way he was blaming all his problems on her but it was making him made. Her stupid brother was making his brother heartbroken. And then when she came over Gigi... of Gigi. It was like his heart was being ripped out. Hunter. Must. Shoot. Hunter. He rounded the corner and saw her. She as crouched behind a plant taking aim at Ponyboy. Now he had another reason to shoot her! She was messing with his little brother! (Sure, everyone was doing it and he was doing it too but still...) He took aim and sent a yellow bullet right into the small of her back where her skin was showing from where her shirt rode up. He smiled in satisfaction. He wasn't sure why he was blaming her but it felt good to blame someone. It felt good to make someone suffer as much as he was...

…

Steve walked around the front door as quietly as possible. He had been following Adam for most of the game, only taking a few breaks to shoot Pony and some others so he wouldn't look like a totally pansy but he had lost her when she shot Darry in the head and he thought it was him. Steve rubbed away the orange from his chin and kept looking for any sign of Adam or anyone for that matter. It was risky to be so out in the open but he didn't care. He was Steve fucking Randle he could take on anyone and win. (Him? Cocky? No...) suddenly, there was a knock on the door Steve pointed his gun at it in surprise. Was it a trap? Should he answer it? He held his gun up and opened the door quickly before returning both hands to his weapon. When the door flew open it revealed a man who looked around 18 or 19 years old. He had dark brown hair falling sloppily around his face and kind blue eyes. He looked clean and handsome. He had a good build. Steve wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Who are you?" He spat out. The man held his hands up in defense. (A natural thing to do when a gun [paintball or not] is pointed at you.)

"Danny." The guy said in a worried voice. Steve almost actually gasped. Danny? Like that Danny that Adam and the girls were talking about? His grip on the gun tightened.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed out. Danny gave him a confused look, as if he was asking, 'why do you need to know?'

"I'm here to pick Adam up for our date." He said. Steve growled (literally) and pulled the trigger, sending a blue bullet right into his forehead.

…

Adam peeked into the living room from the kitchen. She looked, and saw Steve talking to someone in the door. She leaned in a little closer and saw that it was Danny. He stomach flipped a bit upon seeing him and she smiled. Though, her smile was gone when she saw Steve shoot him. Fury filled her and she pulled the trigger of her own gun, making sure it hit Steve right in the ear.

"What the..?" Steve yelled and turned around to see Adam's angry face. Oh no...

"What the hell man?" Adam yelled and went over to where Danny was. She looked at the blue dot on his forehead.

"I'm so sorry." She told him and put her gun down on the table, "Let's go now." Danny nodded and they both began to leave.

"Wait!" Steve called and tried to grab Adam's arm but she yanked it away from him.

"Haven't you done enough?" She yelled, "I know you're having a little trouble with this but leave him out! He didn't do ANYTHING to you." Steve almost shuddered at how much that reminded him of how he had yelled at Adam,_ "My car! My fucking car! My car is ruined! I didn't do nothing to you!"_

"Adam..." He whispered.

"No." She said in a firm voice and stepped closer to Danny. He wrapped an arm protectively around her waist, "No, Steve. I would have at least expected you to be civil. You know, it's my life you're fucking with here." She reminded him.

"Adam...I..." Steve stammered.

"No Steve. This is it. We're done. We'll always be done. Just... leave me alone."

"Adam!"

"Please." Adam begged, "Leave me alone."


	8. Demolition Lovers

**Wow. Even heartless old me, cried while writing this. So I know you will ROBIN! Thanks for all the reviews guys!**

**-Jasmine**

In her entire life, Dale had done many idiotic things. (435, to be exact) The worst of which included French mimes, socks filled with butter, and The Boston Freedom Trail and resulted in her and Adam being escorted out of Faneuil Hall by the police.) Though this, this was by far the most idiotic of all. So as the door bell rang there was a general groan of all the girls. (Not including Sam, of course.) What was Dale's brilliant (extremely stupid) idea, you ask? Well... Dale thought that it would be nice to, since Sam's wedding was in only four days, invite Joe over for dinner.

Yea, great idea... right?

No. Not right. Wong. Wrong. WRONG..!

Sam sprang up from her seat on the couch. She smiled and fixed her hair. Darry gave her a longing look from where he was leaning on the doorframe. She went over to the door and opened it up with a big grin. The door swung open and before any words could be said Sam was swept up into her fiancé's arms and spun around. Sam's preppy, light laugh filled the house accompanied by Joe's deep chuckled. After a moment Adam and Darry both cleared their throats loudly. Adam shot Darry a look.

"Dude," She told him, "I know you're jealous and all, but breaking up cute moments is kind of my thing." Darry just rolled his eyes.

"Well..." Sam said, finding this moment going from extremely cute to awkward fast. She moved over.

"Come on in, Joe." She said and closed the door after him. The roomed looked over the newcomer and Darry almost groaned out loud. Joe was good looking. Really. Good looking. Sam smiled at the room and introduced Joe. Adam stood up and crossed her arms. She marched right up to Joe and looked up. (He was a lot taller than she was.)

"Where is MY hug?" She demanded. Joe smiled down at her.

"How could I forget?" He asked and scooped her up in a big hug, spinning her around like he had Sam. He finally set her down on the ground and ruffled her hair. Adam smiled and punched him on the arm.

"Hey!" Steve complained, "How come when he does it it's fine but when I do that you bite my hand?" Adam glared at him and didn't say a word.

"What?" Steve asked. Adam shook her head.

"You touch my hair, I kill you." Steve sighed.

"Hurtful." He said. Adam waved a hand and went into the kitchen to help Dale with dinner. (Dale? Not good cook. Adam? Surprisingly good cook.) Sam sighed and went around saying all the boys' names and letting them shake hands with Joe.

"And this is Darrel." She introduced. Joe was a nice man. He was like the male version of Sam. His hair was light, more yellowy blond but he had the same large innocent blue eyes. Joe would always see the good in people. He wouldn't ever just flex his muscles threateningly because another guy gave Sam a look. He wouldn't glare because he had a feeling he wouldn't like someone. So when Darry did these exact things to him; he only gave a warm smile and held out his hand.

"It is nice to meet you Darrel." He said in a pleasant voice. Darry looked at his hand and growled in response. He turned around and stalked off into the kitchen. Joe looked at this soon to be wife with confused eyes.

"Did I do something to offend him?" He asked. Sam gave him a sad look and took his hand in hers.

"No. You're perfect." She told him. His eyes lit up at her words. He leaned down and brought her into a loving kiss. Darry looked out and them from the kitchen and cleared his throat loudly.

"MY THING!" Adam yelled and slapped Darry on the arm before reaching up and grabbing his ear. She dragged him out of the view of Sam and Joe, giving a wink to her friends as she did so. Joe gave Sam a confused look and Sam shrugged.

"You never know." She told him and stood up on her tip toes to kiss him again.

…

"What if we had square feet?" The entire table went quiet. All eyes turned to Tyler as she looked at a piece of chicken on her fork. When no one said anything she looked up at everyone.

"What?" She asked. Adam shook her head.

"That would be weird." She commented and went back to eating. Sam laughed and Joe, who had his arms around her shoulders, rubbed her arm. Johnny, who was sitting next to Tyler, just gave her a totally confused look. He shook his head.

"Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a minute?" He asked her. Tyler nodded and they both excused themselves. When Johnny got into the kitchen he watched as Tyler skipped in.

"What was that?" He asked her.

"What?" She asked. Was it just him or was her voice suddenly... not sounding far away?

"You know, that thing, about square feet!" He told her. Tyler laughed, and it wasn't her spacey giggle it was a brief chuckle.

"That was kind of weird... wasn't it?" She asked him. Johnny shook his head.

"Why are you suddenly acting normal?" He wondered aloud. Tyler looked around and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her with his big black eyes. Her knowing green orbs looked back with confidence.

"I'm going to tell you a secret, okay?" Her eyes twinkled with joy as Johnny nodded and said back,

"Okay." She smiled at him.

"I only do that... to make people happy, give them something new." She confessed. Johnny still didn't get it though and gave her a worried look.

"What?" He asked. Tyler smiled and sat on the counter.

"It's an act." She explained, "When you act all spacey and random you get away with saying a lot of things. People tell you a lot of things." This got Johnny's interest.

"Like what?" He asked.

"Like last night, Pony walked in while I was brushing my teeth and he told me that he was going to ask Meg to marry him next year when they're both eighteen." Johnny's jaw dropped.

"Seriously?" He asked. Tyler nodded.

"Also, Adam has a tattoo just below her armpit that says "Steve"."

"No. Way."

"Way." Johnny shook his head.

"Well... we have to get back to dinner." Tyler told him. He nodded and as they walked (he walked she skipped) back into the dining room a thought occurred to him. Tyler was actually a really cool girl.

…

Dinner was just wrapping up and thankfully nothing too bad had happen. Dale had been made fun of because she was eating her carrots with a fork, (I mean... who DOES that?) and Darry had almost broke his fork because Joe and Sam were being all cute and couply. (Which is like, a given because they are getting MARRIED!) Other than that, the dinner was pretty good. (The chicken was a little burnt and could have used more tarragon but whatever...) Now Joe was leaving and Darry couldn't be any happier. All night he had to watch him put his arm around her and make her smile and laugh. That was HIS job... He had been holding his tongue all night. If he had to stop one more smart comment he was going to explode or something... Then... it happened.

"So," Joe said, "Will I be seeing you boys at the wedding?" Darry grinded his teeth together and he reminded himself to smile. (Though he kind of looked like a crazed serial killer... it's the thought that counts though... right?)

"They aren't invited." Sam told him quietly, hoping that he would catch on. Joe did catch on. Though, as stated before, Joe was probably one of the nicest people out there. (The whole Gray family was. It was like their trait.)

"Well you all seem nice enough!" Joe told them, "Why don't you come!" Darry couldn't hold it back anymore. He sneered.

"And watch you make kissy face with MY girl? I don't think so." He hissed. Joe's eyebrows went up.

"Pardon?" He asked. Sam, who was wrapped up in his arms, almost visibly shook. She didn't get angry often but when she did. She pulled out of Joe's grip and marched over to Darry.

"May I talk to you in the kitchen? Darrel?" She spat his name out like it was poison on her tongue. He nodded and followed her. Joe looked like he wanted to stop her, but he did nothing.

"What are you doing?" Sam yelled.

"Trying to get my girl back!" Darry told her, "You are all wrong for him." Sam shook her head.

"No, Darrel, I'm not. We are a good couple. We will live in a nice little neighborhood and have three little, nice, respectable, kids. They will grow up to be nice, respectable people and get nice, respectable jobs. I like him very much and he loves me." Sam told him, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"You didn't say you love him." Darry pointed out.

"Why are you doing this?" Sam asked with a troubled expression on her face. Darry shook his head, finding a new reason to defend their love.

"Look, Sam." He told her, "You've yelled at me, shot me, threw water at me, and made this last dinner living HELL for me." Sam looked down at this words but he continued, "You've asked me to stop so many times but I'm not going to. You've done all those things to me but you know what you haven't done?" He asked, "You haven't told me you don't love me." Sam's head shot up at these words. Her crystal blue eyes were huge, "Just tell me, honestly, that you don't love me and I'll leave you alone." He promised. Sam brought a hand up to cover her mouth as tears fell down her cheeks and soaked through the cracks between her fingers. She turned and left the kitchen without another glace at Darry and fell right into the waiting arms of her fiancé.


	9. Drowning Lessons

**Okay! This is for PINKY! ... ha!**

**-Jasmine**

Dallas Winston was having a tiny little mental breakdown. He was going to get Eve back with him where she belonged if it killed him! He had traced down her number. He knew where she was living. He was going to get in a car and take her back even if he had to strap her to the truck... then again, going out and saving her wasn't very Dallas Winston-ish. No... He would have to think of a better plan.

…

"I don't want to." Adam complained. Sam shook her head.

"Look, Addie," She told her and used her old pet name for good measure, "I know she's creepy but we just have to talk to her about the food. My wedding is tomorrow! Cut me some slack!" Adam rolled her eyes and Hunter laughed.

"Knowing Adam, I don't think you'll ever get any slack." Tyler told Sam. Adam rolled her eyes.

"Tell my again why Johnny is coming?" She asked. Johnny shrugged. Truth was he just liked being around Ty. Now that it all made sense... she was a really fun person to be around.

"Just felt like coming." Sam sighed as she pulled up to The Hotel. (It was really a Hilton but Sam and Adam always called it The Hotel.)

"I hate Shelby! She's too happy. I swear she's going to just have a heart attack one of these days." Adam complained. Hunter gave Adam a horrified look.

"That's a horrible thing to say!" She told her and Sam nodded in agreement.

"I'm saying I want it to happen..." Adam mumbled.

"What would you get if you mixed a strawberry and a blueberry?" Tyler asked. Everyone just shook their heads and ignored her though and walked into The Hotel. Shelby meet them at the door. She was a nice enough woman but she was happy.

Too happy.

"Hello!" She greeted in a preppy voice. Adam groaned.

"This is going to be a long day."

…

Dallas Winston starred at the phone. He had to call... He had to call... He had to...

Maybe he should eat a sandwich first.

….

"And this is the..." Shelby told them but stopped short and clutched her heart.

"Oh my..." She said in a quiet voice.

"Shelby?" Sam asked and rushed over to her and Shelby fell to the ground.

"Shelby!" Hunter yelled and went to help Sam.

"My heart..." She said quietly.

"Call 911!" Sam instructed and Johnny ran to do so. Tyler went to help Hunter and Sam. Adam just stood there, shocked. She looked up at the ceiling.

"I didn't mean it!" She yelled and Sam gave her a glare.

"You can yell at God later. Now just help me save Shelby!" Adam threw her hands up in the air.

"I don't know what to do! This is crazy I just—"

"Shut up and calm down!" Tyler screamed.

…

Dallas Winston looked at the phone and reached out, picking it up. He quickly dialed Eve's number and took a deep breath. He could do this... He could do this.

"Hello?" Dallas dropped the phone.

He couldn't do this.

…

Tyler paced around in the hospital. This was not happening. This was so... what...? Adam was slumped in a chair. Sam was wringing her hands and Johnny was following her with his eyes. Hunter had left to go help Joe with his getting ready for tomorrow. Suddenly a nurse came out.

"Is anyone here for Shelby Stabbs?" Tyler walked over to her quickly. Sam shot up out of her seat and Adam looked up with confused eyes.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"What happened?" Tyler wondered.

"Is she okay?" Johnny put in. The nurse held up her hands.

"Calm down." She told them. The group got quiet and the nurse looked at them with sorry eyes. They were the only ones there so she led them all to the couch.

"You did everything you could." She told them, "Miss Stabbs had a very delicate heart condition. It's a wonder she lived that long..."

"She's dead?" Adam yelled standing up. The nurse gave a sad nod.

"I'm sorry for your lose but Miss Stabbs came here a lot. She knew this was going to happen." Adam rolled her eyes.

"Nice bachelorette party." She remarked and stormed out of the hospital. Sam gave the nurse a sorry look.

"She has an odd way of dealing with grief." She explained through teary eyes. The nurse nodded.

"I have to go contact her family." She said and left them alone. Sam gave Johnny a hug.

"I have to go see Joe." She said and left as well. Johnny just stood there looking at Tyler. She was just standing there, shell shocked.

"Tyler...?" He asked in a small voice and waved a hand in front of her face.

"Tyyyyyyler..." He said again, "Square feet..." He told her and snapped in front of her eyes. She blinked and turned to him.

That's went it all started.

"Oh my god, Johnny!" She ranted, "This is so crazy! We didn't even know that lady and of all the times that it could happen!" She started to cry, "What about her family! What about Sam! What if Sam doesn't want to get married now? What are we going to do? How will we go—" Tyler's frantic ranting was cut short by a pair of lips on hers. After a long moment Johnny pulled away. He almost seemed to be blushing.

"Sorry..." He said quietly, "You were just freaking out and I didn't know how to stop you and I just did the first thing-" It was Johnny's turn to be cut off as Tyler gave him a kiss back.

"It was a really nice way of making me shut up." She told him. He smiled and put an arm around her.

"Come on, Ty, we have to make sure Sam's okay. Her wedding is tomorrow." Tyler nodded.

"She'll be fine. Just..." She stopped walked and Johnny turned to her.

"What?" He asked.

"Make sure you do everything you can to make Darry late... okay?" She asked. Johnny gave her a confused look.

"Why?" He pondered.

"Just... cause." She told him and began to walk. Johnny shrugged and put his arm around her, following her out.

…

Dallas Winston picked up the phone for the last time. He was going to do this. He was going to do this if it killed him. He dialed her number quickly.

- Show quoted text -

"Hello?" Eve's voice called out.

"Eve?"

"Who is this?"

"Dallas."

"Dallas?"

"Dallas Winston."

"Is this a joke?"

"No."

"Prove it."

"The first time we went to second you were wearing a green bra."

"How do you remember that?"

"You believe it's me?"

"Yea... Dallas what are you doing back here?"

"I want you to come back. I want to get back together."

"I thought you wanted me to leave, Dallas." Eve spat out. Dallas rolled his eyes.

"Well, I don't. Come back."

"I can't Dallas. I need to take care of my mother."

"Screw your mother."

"Excuse me?"

"Just come back Babe."

"No!" Eve told him, getting offended.

"Fine!" Dallas shouted, "I don't need you!"

"Yea right! You were just begging me to come home!"

"Well you can forget that! Because... I already have a new girl!" He boasted.

"Oh do you really?" Eve asked. Dallas took a deep breath.

"Yea."

"I can't wait to meet her."

"You're not going to meet her." Dallas said, confused, "You're not coming back."

"I'll be there tomorrow for the wedding." Dallas cursed in his mind. He fucked up...

"Fine, I guess you'll meet her then."

"Fine!" Eve yelled. Dallas hung up. What had he just done! How would he be able to get a girl that fast? Oh... he was screwed... He needed to find a girl and fast...

"WHO ATE MY SANDWICH?" Dale yelled from the kitchen. Dallas smirked and then an idea popped up.

"Bingo."


	10. Our Lady of Sorrows

**Here it is! The one you've been waiting for!**

**-Jasmine**

"Wow. You look beautiful," Hunter breathed out as she finished zipping Sam up. She really did look breath taking. The silk hugged her body and shown in the light; the perfect lace bodice and a simple silver cross around her neck. She looked like a princess. Sam smiled and her eyes started to water.

"Sam, what's wrong?" Adam asked. Sam smiled at her.

"I can't believe this is happening," she said quietly.

"Oh, come on," Adam told her as she looked down and started to dust off Sam's already spotless dress. She was only using it as an excuse not to let Sam see that she was tearing up a bit, too.

"Don't start crying or your makeup will run," Adam scolded. Sam's smile only got bigger.

"Oh, Addie, are you sad I'm growing up and getting married?" Sam teased. Adam looked up.

"You better not leave me, okay?" she asked.

Sam hugged her tightly. "I would never dream of it."

There was a kick on the door as Sam's mother walked in.

"Are you ready, honey?" she asked. Sam nodded. She stood up and hugged her mother.

"Oh, Sammie!" her mother, Linda, cried as she also began to cry. "My little girl! My little girl is getting married!" Sam laughed.

"It's not like I'm moving to Mexico," she told her and laughed.

"I know..." Linda told her. "Just don't forget to call me, darling." Sam nodded.

"I won't," she promised. There was another knock on the door and Meg walked in.

"Come on. It's time to start."

…

Tyler smiled as Johnny sat down next to her in the church.

"Hey," she greeted. "Where've you been?" Jonny gave her a brief smile as she adjusted his tie.

"Remember how you told me to make sure Darry was late?" he aked. Tyler nodded. "Well... he's going to be late," he assured her.

Tyler gave him a confused look. "What did you do?"

"I tied all his ties in one big knot," he said. Tyler shook her head.

"I don't think that will make him too late," she told him, now getting pretty worried.

"I realized that. So I did something else, too," he told her.

"Like what?" Tyler asked. Johnny just shook his head.

"Nothing you need to worry about. It will make him late, though." Tyler nodded and fanned out her dress over her legs.

…

"What the heck?" Darry yelled as he held up his a long rope of ties. Everyone had already left and here he was, just stuck with a long rope of ties. After about ten minutes or ripping apart double knots, he had finally freed one tie from the mix. There was only one problem.

It was pink.

There was a knock on the door, and Darry cursed his luck. He quickly slapped on his tie and hurried down the stairs. He opened the door and took a confused step back.

"Can I help you, officer?" he asked one of the three poliecemen standing in the doorway.

"Yes," one of them told him. "We have some questions for you."

"Um... about what?" he asked.

"We have received an anonymous tip that you may have murdered Miss Shelby Stabbs."

…

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Dale grumbled as she sat next to Dallas.

"Just shut up and act like you love me," he ordered. Dale was not sure why she was doing this. Stupid Dallas. He goes and confuses her and then next thing she knows she's on a fake date at her friend's wedding. Yup. Another day in the life.

"There's Eve," he whispered. "Kiss my cheek or something."

Dale gave hima confused look. "Why would I-"

"Just do it!" he yelled.

"Fine," she grumbled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. And suprisingly...

she lived.

…

"How long have you known Miss Stabbs?"

"I don't know who you're talking about!"

"Come on, man, you don't need to lie to us. Just knowing her won't get you in trouble."

"I'm telling you," Darry argued, "I don't know who she is!"

"Look," Cop 3 said as he slammed his hands on the table where Darry was sitting. "Miss Stabbs was the wedding planner for a good friend and co-worker of ours. You're lucky that his wedding didn't get messed up because of you!"

"I didn't do any... wait... Joe is a cop?" Darry asked.

"You know him?"

"Yeah! I had dinner with him like a week ago!" Darry told them, getting annoyed with all of this. He had a wedding he needed to get to.

"We should call him. Ask him what he thinks about this guy," Cop 2 said. Cop 1 nodded and quickly dialed his phone.

"Hello?" Joe asked. Darry started to fill with dread. Joe knew he didn't like him... Joe would tell them that... and he'd be in trouble.

"Hey, Joe. Sorry to bug you but we're workin' on an anonymous tip."

"About what?"

"Murder. Hey, do you know abything about a..." He paused to check his record. "Darrel Curtis?"

"Yeah!" Joe told him. "I know him. Real nice guy. Why would he be in a murder?"

"You're wedding planner, Shelby Stabbs..." the cop started to explain, but Joe cut him off.

"Ask the hospital, that was a heart codition she had."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Let the poor guy go. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get married."

"Bye." The cop hung and turned to Darrel. "Sorry, man. I guess you're free to go," he told them, and they all left. Darry shook his head and looked at the clock.

Maybe he could still make it if he hurried...

…

Sam stood there at the front of the chruch, Adam in front of her and her father on her right. This was actually happening! This was actually happening and nothing was going to go wrong. Though... why couldn't she shake this feeling that she was doing the wrong thing?

"Adam," she whispered, and her friend turned around.

"What?"

"I think I have cold feet," she told her. Adam's eyes grew wide.

"Okay. You run for it, and I'll stall," she instructed. Sam shook her head.

"No. My feet are cold!" she told her. Adam shook her head.

"Suck it up," she told her, and then the music began. Sam took a deep breath and began to walk down the aisle, never once taking her eyes off of her fiancé, her soon to be husband, the man she loved...

Right?

His smiling face distracted her as she walked up. She couldn't careless about the smiling faces looking up at her. There was only one person on her mind.

And he wasn't there.

"We are gathered here to day to join these two together in holy matrimony," the preacher told them. Sam smiled and looked into Joe's eyes. Yes. She was meant to do this.

"First, however, if there is anyone who objects to this I ask you to speak now or forever hold your peace." The preacher paused to see if anyone would say anything. Sam held her breath...

"No one?" he asked. "Good." Sam sighed, though she wasn't sure if it was from relief or actual sadness. This was it; Darry wasn't going to stop her.

"Do you, Samantha Ann Smithe, take this man, Joseph Plat Gray, to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, to kiss and to hug as long as you both shall live?" All eyes went to Sam. She took a deep breath. This was it. This was happening.

"I—"

BANG! The doors or the church flew open.


	11. I Don't Love You

**Yo sé. Yo sé. I'm a bad person... I'm sorry... Here you go...**

**NO ONE KILL ME.**

**Please.**

**-Jasmine**

The entire inhabitance of the church, it seemed, turned their head around the find the source of the loud bang. Many muttered confused phrases and Adam could be heard uttering a low.

"What the heck?" When the smoke finally cleared (metaphorically or course... actual smoke might just make this a bit too cleché) everyone was able to see the figure standing in the middle of the doorway.

Tyler.

Holding a... pig?

"Whoopsies!" She said in her normal, spacy voice.

"What?" Sam heard Adam splutter out . She looked over just in time to see Meg slap herself in the forehead. Tyler tucked the pig more securely in the crook of her arm and began to skip down the walkway. She looked at the church members and smiled at them, throwing hellos and compliments to those she knew. When she finally got to her seat in the front next to Johnny she looked up at Sam and Joe.

"Carry on." She told them, "I love you're dress by the way, Sam." She added with a smile. Johnny looked at her in totally confusion.

"What. The. Heck." He whispered harshly. Tyler smiled.

"What?" She asked innocently.

"Why do you have a pig?" Johnny questioned. Tyler looked around. Everyone was still watching her.

"Well, I was going to the bathroom, right?" She told him, "And I looked out the window and saw this cute little pig! I just had to go out and get it!" She laughed and looked down at the pig.

"I think I will name you Gordon. But we will all call you Gordo." She told it. The pig snorted in agreement. Johnny shook his head and watched as Tyler turned to look at the couple. Joe smiled at Sam.

"Well, isn't this a wedding story?" He asked. Sam laughed and turned to the preacher.

"Might be able to get back to this?" He smiled at her and nodded. Sam looked down at her hands as her repeated the vows. She thought for sure it would be... but no... This was the fact.

He wasn't coming.

She was really doing this.

"Samantha?" The preacher asked and Sam blushed at being caught not paying attention.

"Sorry." She apologized.

"I d-"

_BANG!_

"Oh! Come on!" Sam yelled as everyone looked at the back of the church again. (Though a few people looked at where Tyler was.) Sam felt her stomach flip when she looked at him.

There with messed up hair and a pink tie, (Wait. Wait. Wait. Pink? Evil Johnny...) was Darrel.

"HOLD UP!" He yelled. Joe sighed.

"This is interesting." He muttered. Darrel turned to the preacher.

"Are we past the objection part?" He asked.

"Yes." The preacher confirmed. Darry sighed.

"Can I object anyways?" He asked. The preacher thought about it for a long moment.

"Go for it." He finally told him and took a step back as Darry walked briskly (what is he? A soccer mom?) to Sam.

"Sam." He told her and took her hand which had previously been held by Joe who was now watching with a small frown on his face and a thought look in his eyes.

"Sam you can't do this. I'm begging you." He told her, "I love you. I was wrong to ever let you go. Please." He begged, "Please don't do this." Sam was just opening her mouth when another voice cut in.

"Sam. Just do it." Sam looked over, shocked, at her fiancé.

"What?" She asked. Joe shook his head.

"You both clearly still have something. Either you need to get it out of your system or," His face darkened into a face of sadness, "Or you're meant to be with him and not me." Sam frowned.

"Joe... I can't just do that to you." She told him. Joe smiled and pushed a strand of his gorgeous blond hair out of his eyes.

"It's okay and alright, Sam. I'll be waiting here for you if and when you are ready to come back." He told her, "And if you don't... you don't." Sam felt herself tear up. She turned to Darry.

"I don't know, Darry." She told him, "How long will you be here this time?"

"What do you mean?" Joe asked. Sam squeezed her eyes closed tight. She messed up. She was struggling to think of something to tell him when Adam saved the day.

"So the truth comes out." She said as she walked down to the small crowd.

"What?" Joe asked again. Adam shook her head and put a hand on Darry's shoulder.

"You see," She told him, "Young Darrel here is in the army." Darry gave her a confused looked she muttered,

"Go with it." To him. He nodded.  
"Yes. I am." He told Joe.

"And this man!" Adam preached, "This brave... brave man..." Darry shoved her in an attempt to make her get on with it.

"This man." She said again, "Came back on leave and fell in love with Sam. Then... he had to leave to go back and fight. That is when she meet Joe. Now... she is scared to be with him... out of fear that this brave, noble, HONERABLE-" Darry coughed loudly.

"Man." Adam continued with a glare at Darry, "will have to leave her again." She finished and walked back to her place. In the crowd Ty could be heard letting out a soft sob and many people were whipping their eyes.

"OBJECTION!" Dale yelled and shot up out of her seat.

"What now?" The preacher asked, getting a little annoyed.

"I don't know." Dale finished lamely, "I've just always wanted to do that!" She ended up screaming in the end as Dallas quickly grabbed her dress and yanked her back into her seat. Joe laughed quietly a turned to everyone.

"So, I guess there is no wedding here today." He told him, a few people booed but they were ignored, "How about we all go to the reception and just have a nice party." The crowned nodded and everyone began to leave. When it was just Sam and Darry she looked down.

"Darry." She said in a quiet voice.

"What?" He asked, giving her a warm smile.

"I never said I would take you back." She told him.  
"What?" His eyes got wide. He thought...

"You know. It's my life you're messing with here." She said and walked out to go get changed. Suddenly, it felt disgusting to be wearing a wedding dress.

…

Dale laughed and joked as the party went on. The wedding was a flop but the party sure was fun! Sure, being with Dallas was annoying but she was still having some fun. Now he had left her and she couldn't stop smiling. She turned the corner to got to the bathroom when she stopped dead in her tracks.

Dallas was kissing Eve.

She looked down turn around quickly, rushing away. (Though if she had stayed a few moment longer she would have seen Eve push him off of her and slap him in the face.) Great. He had found someone else. Fine. She was glad to have him off her back.

So... Why did her heart... hurt?


	12. Move Along

**Me again! Miss me? I know you did. Didn't get that much of a change to write. Recommendations are going out so teachers keep assigning extra work. Stupid college. I am starting to wonder if you are really worth this much work. :( Either way, I'm here now!**

**SPECIAL BONAS TO THOSE WHO CAN GUESS WHAT MOVIE ADAM AND DANNY ARE WATCHING!**

**-Jasmine**

Steve Randle had been angry before. He is just a generally angry person, it is just the way he is. Though this moment... this day... he was the angriest he had ever been. He didn't quiet know what to do about it. He watched the couple with hate filled eyes. Hitting Danny with a brick would be a perfectly good option... So what was Mr. Randle watching at the moment? Well Adam and Steve for course! They were on a movie date. So why was Steve there?

Because he is a stalker.

Adam laughed as one of the people in the movie died.

"This is movie is so fake." She told Danny. He nodded in agreement and he nodded in agreement.

"I still can't believe this wimpy thing made thousands of people scared of sharks!" He told her. Adam sighed and put her head back on his shoulder.

"Either way, I'll never think of cello music the same way ever again." She commented and Danny chuckled. Steve narrowed his eyes at the couple. This movie was horrible and he didn't blame them for talking but talking lead to flirting and flirting lead to kissing and kissing lead to...

"Please be quiet." The young lady next to Danny asked them. Steve wanted to stand up and thank her but stayed quiet out of fear of getting kicked out.

"Why is that kid crying?" Adam asked quietly. Danny only shrugged. Steve rolled his eyes, even if someone had told him to be quiet he would have answered Adam. Steve watched, enraged as Danny placed his hand on Adam knee. Adam just smiled up at Danny. Steve slapped his forehead.

Whoa.

WHY ISN'T SHE SLAPPING HIM?

…

Sam sat down at the café with Meg. He brought the warm cup of hot coco to her lips and took a sip. Meg nibbled on her cheesecake. (She didn't get a hot coco, she didn't like chocolate. She didn't get coffee either, she didn't like it.)

"So what are you going to do?" Meg asked. Sam shook her head and placed her cup back on the red table cloth.

"I don't know." She told her, "I just. I do like Joe and now... now it's over with us?" Meg shook her head.

"I don't think you have lost him." Meg told her. Sam shook her head.  
"He left me, though. He turned down the wedding at the alter." Sam argued.

"Did he though?" Meg asked, "Because it sounded to me like he just wanted you to go with Darry one last time to make sure things are done." Sam took another sip and put her head in the hands.

"I don't think they are done, though." She confessed. Meg couldn't help but smile.

"Then go for it. If he never leaves then you can be happy. If he does leave... well you have a delightful man waiting for you."  
"But if he doesn't leave... I would feel so bad about doing that to Joe." Meg sighed and took Sam's hand in her own.

"So you'd rather do that to Darry?"

…

When the lights of the theater went up at the end of the movie Adam laughed and gave Danny and peck on the cheek.

"That movie was so bad." She told him. He nodded.  
"I love our Friday night bad movies." Danny told her. Adam laughed at gave him a hug.

"Me too." Danny smiled at her words and kissed her. Steve shot out of his seat. He couldn't watch this one moment longer.

"That's it!" He yelled, 'Hands in the air and step away from my girl!" Danny and Adam pulled away from each other in a second and both of their hands shot in the air.

"Adam-" Danny started to say but Steve cut him off.  
"Well... well... well." He said and he walked towards the couple, "What do we have here?"  
"Steve what are you doing here?" Adam asked. (You could almost SEE the steam coming out of her ears!)

"I'll ask the" Steve started to say but something caught his eye, "Is that a tattoo?" You see, Adam was wearing a sleeveless shirt that had just happened to slip down a bit when she put her arms in the air.

"What?" Adam asked and pulled her arm down, "I don't know what you are talking about!" Steve shook his head and grabbed Adam wrist, pulling her arm up.

"HEY!' Adam yelled.

"Don't hurt me girl!" Danny yelled. Steve ignored him though and looked deeper at the tattoo.

"Does that say Steve?" He asked, a smirk growing on his face. Danny was going to yelled at Steve more but this caught his attention.

"What?" Danny asked.

"Um..." Adam spluttered.

"You have the name of your ex tattoo on your body?"

"You have my name tattoo on your body?" Steve asked, joy growing.

"Would it make you feel better, Danny, if I told you that your name was tattooed on the bottom of my foot?" Adam asked.

"Yes." Danny said quietly.

"Then I have your name tattooed on the bottom of my foot."

"You have his name tattooed on the bottom of your foot?" Steve asked.

"No." Adam told him.

"What? You don't have my name tattooed on the bottom of your foot?" Danny asked.

"You said you have his name tattooed on the bottom of your foot!" Steve yelled.  
"I asked if it would make him feel better if I said that!" Adam shouted back, "I never said it was true!"

"Can I put my arms down now?" Danny interjected though Steve only waved him off.

"So you don't have his name tattooed on the bottom of your foot?"

"NO!"

"Thank God." Steve said.

"Why not?" Danny asked.

"Oh for the love of!"

…

"Eve!" Dallas yelled as he chased after her, "You can't just leave me! What about last night?" Eve whipped around with angry eyes.  
"We are over Dallas. Kissing you yesterday only proved that to me more!"

"You don't mean that Eve!"He told her. Eve shook her head.  
"Yes I do. If you want to know the truth I never loved you! I'm done. I was scared and you were there and you were welcoming enough..."

"What?" Dallas yelled. Eve just turned around and went to the car. She was just about to leave when she faced him one last time.

"I think it would be best if you never tried to find me again." She told him. She looked over at Dale and then back at him, "I'm done. But I don't think she is." Then she left.

Dallas looked over at Dale. She gave him a small smile and waved. He should be upset. He really should.

So why didn't he fell bad?


	13. Bulletproof Heart

**La de da de da! It's me it's me! You love me? I know you do. I AM VERY DISSAPOINTED IN YOU ALL. Bad job at reviewing. Shame.**

**-Jasmine**

Darrel cursed as blood trickled down his chin.

"I guess he doesn't like you." Tyler announced as she pulled Gordo away from Darry's face and back into her arms. Gordo tilted his head up to lick Ty's face, scratching her neck with his studded collar. (Not that Ty cared. She thought that his collar, along wit his black tutu and bow, made him look adorable.) Darry glared at the pig and rubbed his chin where it had bit him. (The bugger had sharp teeth!) What had happened? Well, you see, Tyler and Johnny had been playing with Gordo when Darrel walked in. Tyler wasn't sure if the day of Sam's almost wedding and him getting arrested was totally burned into his brain so Tyler thought she might introduce the two again. (Though Darry had already met Gordo. It sure made an impression, too. Nothing sticks in your brain like seeing a pig in a tut taking shots in in a bar.)

So Tyler had picked Gordo up by his little piggy armpits and shoved him right in Darry's face.

"Look at my pig!" She had cried, "Isn't he so cute?" Evidently, Gordo didn't like being shoved in a large man's face and he had... bit Darrel. So Darry was still hastily whipping away blood and pig spit when the doorbell rang.

"Disgusting pig." He mumbled while walking to the door. Tyler shot him a look and turned to Gordo and rubbing noses with him.

"He doesn't mean it, Gordo, he just wishes that he had a studded collar and a black tutu." Darry shook his eyes and oped the door. Though he was surprised to see Sam smiling up at him.

"Hello, Darrel."

…

Dale grunted as Adam landed a good kick to her side.

"Maybe we should take a break." Dale hissed out between clenched teeth. Adam swiped the back of her hand across her forehead to get rid of some of the sweat. She laughed at Dale. (Because it is always funny to see your friend in pain...)

"Sure thang chickenwang." She told her. Dale rolled her eyes.

"You are spending too much time with Tyler." The short girl panted out. (She really was horribly short. She was often called a midget by her friends. Though the most common of the the teasing names was Adam's "half-pint".) Adam rolled her eyes.

"You say that like it's a bad thing, Tiny Tim." Dale shook her head and pursed her lips.

"Tiny Time? Really? Glory... That's a new one." She muttered with anger. Dale's vocabulary caught Adam's attention.

"Glory? Did you just say glory?" She asked. Dale glared.

"Got a point?" She demanded. Adam only laughed.

"No, man, I think it's tuff." Dale rolled her eyes at her crazy friend's antics and was about to say something hurtful in return but was cut off by the doorbell ringing. Dale muttered,

"You're lucky." To Adam before going to answer the door. The moment she opened it Dallas Winston sauntered into the room.

"Can I help you?" Sale asked with a venomous voice. (She still hadn't forgiven him for just KISSING Eve!) Dallas looked her over in one sweeping look, his eyes lingering on one place in particular.

"You sure can..." He told her. Adam glared and cracked her knuckles threateningly.

"Look, buddy," She said in a deadly cold voice, "I'm a three time state champion in kickboxing. You wanna say that again?" Dale shook her head and pulled Adam away from Dallas.

"I can handle this, Adam." She told her friend and turned to Dallas once more.

"Look, buddy, I have a friend who is a three time state champion in kickboxing. You wanna say that again?"

…

Sam scratched the back of her head as she looked up at Darrel. She had practiced and practiced what she was going to say to him but she suddenly just forgot everything.

"Sam?" Darry asked in a surprised voice, "What are you doing here?" Sam looked down at her hands and played with her fingers.

"Um... I..." She mumbled. Darry shook his head.

"Look, Dale isn't here. She's at Adam's for kickboxing practice." He told her. Sam shook her head.

"No... no I'm not here to see Dale. I'm here to talk to you." Tyler and Johnny, who had been watching from the living room, stood up at once.

"Come on, Johnny." Tyler said, "Let;s go play with Gordo in the back yard." Johnny nodded and they both left in a hurry. Darry stepped aside and let Sam in.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Darry asked as he looked her over. She had grown. He light blue dressed hugged her figure. If only she was his...

"About what happened at the wedding..." Sam started, taking a step towards Darry but he cut her off.

"Look, Sam," He told her, "I get it. You've made your point. I'll leave you alone." He stood up and started to walked away when a light hand grabbed his arm.

'Darrel..."

"No, Sam!" He yelled and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, "I was wrong. You made you're point! I'll find someone else and you can go back to Joe!"

"No, Darrel..."

"Sam. We're done here. I'm not letting you mess up your life anymore. I'm not letting you get back with me. It's a shame though," He said quietly, "I really do love you." Sam watched with horror as the man she loved walked away from her.

"But Darrel..." She whispered "I love you, too."

…

Adam paced as she waited for Dale and Dallas to be finished talking. Now she was just getting annoyed. She wanted to hit something You see? This is why she went into kickboxing! (Oh... hurry up Dale, before Adam freaks out and tries to beat up a refrigerator!)

…

"What do you want, Dallas?" Dallas spat the name as she watched him with narrowed eyes. Dallas looked up at her, his ice blue eyes cold as every though trying to show hints of warmth.

"You."

"Oh! Grow up!" Dale commanded, "Tell me why you are here before I go get Adam and make her kick you out." Dallas stopped and thought about this for a moment. (It was a pretty large threat.)

"Fine." He grumbled, "You're no fun." Dale rolled her eyes.

'You know, if you're trying to do that whole 'charm the girl' thing, you might not want to insult me." Dallas sighed and roughly dragged a hand through his messy white blonde hair.

"Look." He told her, "I've never really done anything like this before, so I'm just going to say it."

"Than just say it and stop staling by adding dramatic pauses in speech!" Dale yelled, clearly getting irritated. Dallas narrowed his eyes in annoyance. (Oh he is just so nice and understanding.) (not.) (-cough cough- jerk. -cough cough-)

"Okay... I'm gonna say it." He told her.

"Oh!" Dale said in a loud voice dripped in sarcasm, "I better go and alert the coast guard!" She rolled her eyes.

"Maybe I shouldn't say it." Dallas told her.

"Please." Dale fake begged, "The suspense is killing me." Dallas shook his head again and mumbled something about "forgetting it". Dale sighed and played with her boxing gloves.

"Say it." She said quietly. Then she looked up with a playful and fiery expression, "Before I beat it our of you." Dallas looked taken aback by her abrasive attitude. (It is known to turn men off.)

"Well..." There was a loud banging from the other room.

"Adam...?" Dale called in.

"Ouch damn it!" Adam cursed.

"What happened?" Dale yelled.

"Don't punch refrigerators!" Her friend advised.

"There go my weekend plans." Dale muttered and turned to Dallas once more, "Now, what is it?"

"Wanna go to dinner?" Dallas asked in a rushed voice. Dale was taken aback and her blue eyes shimmered with suspicion as her eyebrows disappeared behind her light brown bangs.

"Seriously?" She asked.

"Well... yea." He confirmed. Dale sighed and thought it over for a moment.

"No." She told. Dallas's head shot up at once.  
"What?" He asked. Dale rolled her eyes.

"No." Dale said again.

"No?: Dallas said in a deadly voice, "Did you just say no to me?"

"Yea." Dale told him.

"No." Dallas said quietly, "You just said no... to me."

"Yes... how many times do you have to go over this?" Dale asked, confused.

"You don't say no to me." He told her, "I'm Dallas Winston."

"So I have heard."

"But... No one says no to Dallas Winston."

"News flash." Dale whispered, "I just did." Dallas just shook his head and them smiled.

"You know what? We're going on a date. What do I have to do to get you to go on a date with me?" Dale thought about it for a moment, scratching her chin.

"Oh, I know." Dale told him, "I'll go on a date with you... if..."

"If...?" Dallas prompted.

"If you get Steve and Adam to double with us."

The statement hung in the air as Dallas realized her was praying that wouldn't happen.

He would show her.

"Consider it done."


	14. Gives You Hell

**Tisk Tisk Tisk. Not impressed with your reviews guys! But I promised a friend I would post and I won't go back on a promise. So here it is, chapter 14.**

**Are you scared?**

**No?**

**You should be.**

**Are you scared now?**

**-Jasmine**

"No." Steve told Dallas for what seemed to be the billionth time.

"Come on, man!" Dallas complained.

"No. I won't do it." Steve stated.

"I didn't want to have to do this." Dallas said quietly.

"Do what?" Steve asked in a somewhat frightened voice.

"Man, you have to do this."

"No I don't." Steve said.

"Yes you do," Dallas reasoned, "Remember the BroCode?" Steve's head shot up in an instant.

"Do not bring the BroCode into this, man." Steve commanded.

"I didn't want to but you have forced me to do it!"

"NO. Don't not being the BroCode into this."

"I'm gonna say it."

"No."

"BroCode."

"NO!"

"Steve Randle you are violating the BroCode."

"Ah! I hate you." Steve muttered.  
"So you'll do it, then?" Dallas asked, suddenly getting hopeful.

"Well, yes, I have to." Steve complained, "You went and brought the BroCode into it."

"Good. I don't see why you don't want to ask her out, we all know you still like her."

"I know," Steve said quietly, "But I just _know_ that she is going to turn me down so..."

"So?"

"So, what's the point?"

"In asking her?"

"In... anything."

….

"Yo Adam!" Dale yelled as Adam walked up to her.

"What?" Adam asked.

"Whatever you do DON'T go on a date with Steve!"

"Well, glory, Half-Pint, there go my weekend plans!" Adam joked.

"This isn't funny, Adam!" Dale yelled, "YOU CAN NOT GO ON A DATE WITH HIM!"

"Hold up, Short-stack, why would Steve ask me out on a date?" Adam finally wondered. (Glory, think slow, much?)

"Don't ask questions!" Dale shouted once more.  
"I'll ask all the questions I want if you don't tell me why!" Adam yelled back and added, as an after thought, "Squirt."

"Enough with the short jokes!" Dale yelled, "Just turn Steve down!"

"Look, miniature person, if you don't tell me why-"

"Just do it!"

"You know what?" Adam screamed, "If you don't tell me, I might just have to say yes. JUST to annoy you!"

….

Dallas watched Dale and Adam argue from his ninja hiding place behind a plant. He picked up his walkey-talky and said quietly,  
"The fox is in the hen house. I repeat, the fox is in the hen house." He then hung up.

"Dude." He heard Steve tell him, "What are you doing?"

"I'm on a secret mission. Use you're radio."

"No!" Steve yelled.

"Suuuushh!" Dallas ordered and ninja rolled from behind one plant to another. "We can't let them see us!" Steve watched as Dallas did a series of complex moves to move about 3 feet. Steve followed behind him, walking.

"What are you doing?" He asked Dallas. Dallas ignored him though and continued to hum his theme song.

Steve slapped himself.

…

Meg looked at the computer screen with worried eyes. She bit her lip.  
"What are you doing?" Pony asked as he walked into the study. He looked at the computer with confusion. (Meg had actually just taught him about computers a few days ago.)

"What's that?" He asked.

"A link." Meg muttered as she began to bite her fingernails.

"Are you going to click it?" Pony ask. Meg sighed.  
"I have to..." She said quietly, "But I shouldn't."

"Why do you have to?" He asked as he pulled up a set next to her and put his arm casually (Bluntly.) around her shoulders.

"Adam sent it to me. I heard some of it and it sounds really creepy and scary..." Meg told him.

"Then don't click it." Pony said simply.

"You don't get it." Meg sighed, "I'm really curious now."

"Well, if you want to watch it, do it."

"But it will scare me."

"Then don't."

"But I need to watch it!"

"Oh for the love of!" Pony said in an exasperated tone and click the link. The two teens watched in horror as the girl got her arm strapped in to a table and got her fingernail ripped off.

That's when the screaming started.  
The girl started to go crazy screaming and crying and she got attacked and they ripped her nails off. When it finally ended Meg was actually started to cry.  
"Meg...?" Pony asked in a scared voice. Meg shook her head.  
"I don't want to get my fingernails ripped off." She said quietly. Pony sighed and pulled her onto his lap. She curled into a ball and he held her close.  
"It's okay." He told her in a soothing voice, "I'm not going to let anyone touch you."

"Not even crazy Japanese people who want to rip out my fingernails?" Meg ask quietly. Pony gave a weak chuckle as her stroked her hair.

"Especially not crazy Japanese people who want to rip out our beautiful fingernails." He confirmed.

…

Hunter held her breath as she walked up to Soda. He wasn't home yet, none of the others would be there... she just had to talk to him. She walked up behind him silently and tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around with his arms raised to strike.

"It's just me!" Hunter yelled out ins surprise.

"Glory, that's not much better." Soda muttered and kept walked. Hunter bit her lip and sighed.

"Soda!" She called after him. He growled but stopped.  
"What." He ask harshly. Hunter wanted to cry. This didn't make any sense. Soda was supposed to be the nice one. Why did he hate her so much?

"What did I do?" She asked quietly. Soda rolled his angry brown eyes.

"You're brother messed up my brother." He told her. Hunter's eyebrows scrunched together and she frowned.  
"Well that doesn't really seem like a good reason." She told him.  
"That's another reason!" Soda yelled, "You won't leave me alone!" Hunter looked down. She couldn't believe it but she was actually starting to cry.  
"I didn't do anything to you." She told him.

"You're brother did." He told her.

"But he didn't do anything to _you_." She said in a think voice. Soda started to catch on that she was crying. He rolled his eyes. He wanted to get out of there. He didn't want or need to be around a crying girl. He started to walk away when Hunter pulled on his arms again. His temper flared and he didn't even think about his next action. He didn't even register what had happened until he heard the loud,

SMACK!

It didn't click in his mind until he saw her running away in tear while holding her now bright red cheek. He looked down at his equally red hand. He sighed and rubbed his temples for a moment before continuing after her to Dale's house.

…

Adam and Dale were both sitting in the kitchen eating grapes and discussing dieting tips when Hunter ran in. Her face was red and her eyes were matching. She was breathing hard like she had run the whole way there.

Or she had been crying the whole way there.

"What happened?" Dale asked as she set her grape back down in the bowl. Hunter just shook her head and sat down, putting a grape in her mouth.

"Nothing." She said quietly, "It doesn't matter."

"You're crying." Adam pointed out, "Who's butt am I kicking?" Hunter laughed.  
"It really is nothing. I'm fine." Hunter said again. Dale and Adam locked eyes full of worry. Hunter always complained about how the word fine was always a lie. People just said it so they didn't worry their friends and family.

"Tell me." Dale said in a quiet voice. Hunter looked up at her friends. It wasn't that she was afraid to tell them but... They might just flip out...

"Soda hit me." Hunter said quietly and looked at both of their faces carefully. Dale actually stumbled back with shock though Adam just looked at her with a blank face. She suddenly looked into the living room before going to the back of the kitchen.  
"What are you doing?" Hunter asked.

"Nothing." Adam said and closed the drawer that she was looking in. She then headed for the living room.  
"Where are you going?" Dale asked.

"Living room." Adam answered.  
"Why?" Hunter added.

"I have to talk to someone." Adam told her and she was gone. Dale and Hunter locked eyes. Hunter sighed.  
"You know, I thought she would take that a lot worse." Hunter said. Dale nodded.

"Me too." she agreed and looked at the drawer that Adam had left open. Her eyes widened suddenly.  
"Hunter..." Dale said in a quiet voice.

"What?" Hunter wondered.

"That was my knife drawer."

Both girls rushing into the living room just in time to see the knife fly from Adam hand and hear the sickening THUNK it made as it hit it's mark.


	15. Dead!

**Ah. I see how it is? Just got to throw a knife at someone and they you get many reviews!**

**Maybe I should have Adam throw knives more often?**

**Would you like that? **

**I bet you would.**

**-Jasmine**

Soda didn't really pay attention when Adam walked in and went back to looking blankly at the wall. It did get his attention, however, when a knife was suddenly headed straight for him. He froze in fear and squeezed his eyes close tight, waiting to it to cut into his flesh. He felt a sharp sting on the left side of his head. The warm wet spreading of blood, however, was not apparent.

He wasn't dead.

Sodapop looked slowly to his left to see where the knife HAD hit. There it was, sticking out of the wall. Soda let out a sigh of relief when he saw it had not cut him but he stopped short when he saw that was wrapped out it.  
Silky straight wheat-gold hair.

His hair.

His hand flew up to touch his head where he had felt the pull. Sure enough, he could touch the scalp. He turned to Adam to see her staring at him with a smug look on her face. No one moved. No one spoke. No one breathed. Everyone just watched Sodapop and Adam. They waited to see who would speak first. Soda did.

"What. The. Hell?" He asked as he looked at the knife again. Adam glared and took a step towards him. Soda flinched back and Adam chuckled.  
"That was me being nice." Adam said in a deathly quiet voice. That was the real clue that she was angry. Adam had two levels of angry. First there was the normal, yelling, screaming, punching, rage. That was scary enough and if you were caught in the middle of it you better hope that you have first aid. Second there was the quiet Adam. Most people thought this was even worse. She didn't look at all mad. She was quiet and smiling. Always. Right then there was a large smile plastered on her face. It scared mostly everyone in the room. Her voice was sickeningly sweet.

"If you ever touch my friend again," She told him, "That knife will cut more than your hair. Understood?" She asked. Soda stood there, unmoving. Adam's eyebrows knit together in confusion.  
"I'm sorry." She said, "But did I not ask you a question?" Soda still did nothing at her words. She took another step forward, "Answer me." It was all Soda could to to blink and breathe though he somehow managed to nodded his head slowly. Adam smiled.

"Good." She pulled always from him face and walked over to the knife in the wall. She took it out and flipped it over in her hands.  
"It's a shame." She said, "You have beautiful hair." Everyone watched as she slowly walked around the room. She was armed, and no one wanted to mess with that. If there was one thing that Adam was good at to make up for the many many things she was terrible at, it was violence. After a mental pep talk Steve got the nerve to speak up."  
"What happened?" He asked quietly. Adam spun around. Steve flinched back, as if scared that she might throw a knife at him, too. She did not though.  
"He hit Hunter." She said simply and walked out of the room. Steve looked at his best friend with unbelieving eyes, everyone did. They simply could not wrap their minds around it. Nice, kind, caring Sodapop Curtis... hitting a girl? Steve shook his head.  
"That is low, man." He said and for what was the first time in his life, he turned away from his best friend.

…

Tyler looked at the door and sighed. She had to do this. She had to do this. She had to do this.

"Come on, Tyler." Johnny told her, "You have to do this." Tyler rolled her eyes.  
"I know I do, Johnnycake." She said, "That doesn't make it any easier."

"Well I have to do it, too." Johnny reminded her. Tyler sighed, "You have the easy one. Mine will be much harder."

"Okay. Let's do this." Johnny said. Tyler nodded, and they both opened the door.

…

Sam was just putting the last coat of nail polish on when Johnny walked in the room.  
"Oh, hi Johnnycake." She said and waved him down to sit where her at the small table, "What brings you here?" Johnny smile, he always liked being around Sam she was so nice and just like a mother.

A much better mother than the monster that he has to show.

"Just wanted to talk to you." He said in a quiet voice. Sam's eyebrows furrowed together.  
"Is something wrong, Johnny?" She asked and but a hand on his own.  
"Oh nothing." He told her quickly, "This is more about you."

"Did I do something to offend you, Johnny?" She asked. Johnny laughed.  
"No. No... It's about Darry." He told her. Sam's perky attitude fell at one and her eyes went down to her nails again. She looked at the nice light pink coating. She had been wearing a color like that when Darry and her went on her first date...

"What about him?" She whispered. It hurt to even think about him. He had turned her down so harshly...

"I think you should give him one more shot." He told her. Sam gave him a bittersweet laugh.

"Honey, I've tried." She told him. Johnny gave her a confused look.  
"What?" He asked, "I thought you turned him down after the wedding." Sam shook her head.  
"No, I came back a few days ago, you remember you were there, and he turned me down." Sam's voice stared to crack as she remember the conversation. She turned away from Johnny, not wanting him to see her crying. Johnny sighed and put a hand on her back, rubbing it in comforting circles.

"I just..." She choked out but Johnny silenced her.

"It's okay, Sam. It's going to be okay." He told her. Sam smiled up at him and whipped her eyes.  
"How do you know?" She asked. He smiled back.

"Call it a hunch."

…

Tyler burst through the door just in time to see Darry zipping up his pants.  
"WHOA!" She yelled and covered her eyes. Darry yelled out in surprise and pulled a shirt of quickly.  
"What the hell?" He yelled as he finished dressing, "Did your mother tell you to knock?" Tyler slapped her forehead.  
"She always told me, but I keep forgetting!" She told him, "I was just in the moment, you know?" Darry sighed.

"Well, you're in her now. What is it?" He asked. Tyler sighed and sat down on the bed. Darry gave her a confused look and she patted the comforter next to her. Darry sighed and sat down.  
"Am I in trouble?" He asked. Tyler shook her head.  
"I don't think so." She told him. He nodded.

"So why are you here and trying to catch me with my clothes off?" He asked. Tyler tapped her chin with her finger.

"Now... how do I say this without you reacting in a bad way...?" She wondered. Darry sighed.  
"It can't be that bad, just say it." He told her. Tyler smiled.  
"Okay!" She said in a happy voice, "You need give Sam one last try!" Darry actually slapped himself at this.

"Listen, Tyler, I don't want to mess up her life anymore." He explained. Tyler frowned.

"Why not? Who says you're messing up her life?" She asked.

"She does." He told her in a firm voice. Tyler cocked an eyebrow.  
"You might want to check you're source." She advised. Darry rolled his eyes.  
"That doesn't make any sense. She is my source on what she is thinking. Who else could I get this information from?" Tyler pointed at herself.  
"Me. Duh." She said. Darry stood up.  
"Look. You need to just let this go." He told her and left. Though the moment he was out the door he collided with something. He looked down to see Sam looking up at her.

"Darrel." She said in a breathy voice. Darry help a finger up to her lips.

"Screw this." He said and kissed her.

The all together cute moment was cut short, however, by a blood curdling scream.


	16. I'm Not Okay, I Promise

**Jasmine is back! Yay. Bad week. But I wrote anyways. So... yay.**

**-Jasmine**

**Should I bother to tell you to review?**

Johnny and Tyler exchanged a look before both of them raced down the stairs. Johnny burst into the room first. The sight confused him so much that only three words were available:

"What the fuck?" Johnny cried out, but it was lost among the high-pitched screaming. Dallas broke away from the mob and turned to him, looking stunned.

"You watch your mouth, Johnnycake!" He scolded, though Johnny only rolled his eyes.

"Is _now_ really the time for that?" He asked, but before Dallas before Dallas would say, or even think up a clever retort, Tyler came bursting in.

"Christ on a pony!" She exclaimed, "What's going on?" Dallas looked around in wonder, seemingly the only one who had heard it.

"Really?" He muttered in anger but was once again ignored. He rolled his eyes and went back to the unfolding scene. She screamed again. Oh yes, that horrid scream. Well, who can blame her?

She _did_ just get her fingernail ripped out.

Who?

Meg.

Ironic?

Indeed.

So wondering what exactly was going on? Well, so were Sam and Darry when they walked in and saw… all that.

Meg was screaming and clutching her right hand, as blood trickled slowly down her arm. Pony was hovering over her, trying to help, but Meg kept swearing and pushing him away. Steve was standing motionless, with his sunglasses askew, (Wow. Sunglasses? Indoors? … douche.) and was clutching his cheek. Sodapop was next to him. He also stood unmoving. His arm was extended and pointing at Meg. His hand was noticeably shaking. On the couch behind him Hunter sat cross-legged, only being able to watch with an open mouth and blink. Adam, who had been previously picking her fingernails with a knife, was standing still in the doorway with her hands in fists and her expression murderous.

Sam looked behind her, hoping for some support, or flat out anything, from Darry. Though it wasn't much good. He was about as mobile as a rock. (A very handsome rock at that.) Sam rolled her eyes at her significant-other's non-existent usefulness and looked over to Sodapop.

"What happened?" She asked, but it was about as productive as asking another rock. (And this a slightly more handsome rock. Border-line gorgeous, really. Some might call it, "movie-star handsome" though that might be pushing things.) Sam waved a hand in front of his face several times, though he still did nothing. She was starting to panic.

It didn't help matters that Meg wouldn't stop screaming.

Sam didn't get it. Why was the the only one moving, it seemed? The only one talking? The only one-

"SHUT UP!" Sam clasped a hand over her mouth in horror. She had just screamed at Meg. When she was hurt! Thankfully, though, this loud display of annoyance got the attention of none other than Dallas Winston.

"What are you gabbing about?" He asked her, anger and annoyance clear on his face. Sam fought back the frustration and the urge to slap herself.

"I just wanted to know what happened!" She said in an exasperated tone. Dallas sighed.

"Do I have to explain everything to you people?" He yelled, throwing his hands in the air. Sam opened her mouth to speak but Dallas talked over her, "Little miss genus over here," he pointed to the crying Meg, "Got mad at Steve for turning his back on his friend or something," When Dallas paused to roll his eyes Meg was heard swearing,  
"That annoying bastard." Dallas sighed continued.

"So she went all PMS on him and slapped him in the face."

"So how did her... fingernail get ripped out?" Sam asked in a quiet and unsure voice. Dallas gave an exasperated sigh.

"Don't you understand ANYTHING?" He ranted, "Steve decided to be all weird and wear sunglasses indoors,"

"Loser." Adam interjected but no one payed any attention to her.

"Her nail got caught on the glasses and-"

"STOP!" Sam yelled, squeezing her eyes shut tight.

"What?" Dallas asked with a smirk, "Don't want to hear about the fingernail ripping-"

"STOP! STOP STOP STOP!" Sam yelled and plugged her ears, "I don't want to hear that!" Dallas chuckled and looked around the room.

"We should probably get her a kitty band-aid or something." He said. Sam shook her head.

"Forget that! We're taking her to the hospital!" Sam said and walked over to Meg, "Come on, Megan, we're going to get your finger fixed." She said in a quiet voice. Meg started to hyperventilate as Sam walked her to the car, Pony following closely. The rest of the people in the room looked around.

"Well, let's go." Adam said and stuck her knife in the door frame, excusing the angry look from Dale, and walked out the door. Finally, it seemed, everyone remembered how to move and rushed out after her. Dale rolled her eyes and turned to Adam.

"That blood better come out of my carpet."

…

Pony held Meg's good hand as they sat in the emergency room. (She was finally letting him near her.)

"It's going to be okay." He told her. Meg sighed and turned to him. Her eyes were finally back to the normal gray color and here face was less red.

"You promised." Meg sniffed quietly. Pony gave her a confused look.

"Promised what?" He asked her as he rubbed comforting circles on her back.

"You promised me." She told him, taking a deep breath.

"Promised you what, Darling?" Pony asked, getting a little bit worried with her words and her state.

"You promised me that you wouldn't let anyone rip my fingernails out." She pouted. Pony sighed and fought back tears of his own. Seeing her in this state was horrible. What was even worse was seeing her in this state and knowing that it was his fault. (Even though it really wasn't his fault. We all know that, right? Pony is just going all emo and 'it's my fault even though there is sufficient evidence that it wasn't.' Silly Ponyboy.) Though he tried his hardest to make sure she wasn't feeling to bad. (Because when you get your fingernail ripped out it just makes your day!)

"At least I didn't let any crazy Japanese people rip your fingernail out." He told her in a weak voice. Meg tried her hardest to glare but she couldn't, not with the face her was giving her. (It was sickeningly cute.)

Now, while all of this... cute... was happening, Sam was going crazy. She was pacing and her eyes were darting around and any doctor that got within an arms length distance of her it was like war interrogation. Though, thankfully, the next nurse that walked by her was for Meg.(Good thing too, or Sam might have just exploded.) When Sam watched Meg being walked over into a room to get her finger looked at the worry finally set in. Sam took a scared breath and turned to Adam.

"What is going to happen?" She asked her, her voice was going a million miles an hour, "What will happen to her finger? Will she be able to write? Will she be able to juggle? Is juggling even important? Could she even juggle before? What if she had secret dreams of becoming a world class juggler-"

"Sam!" Adam stood up and yelled, "Calm down! It is all going to be- what Steve?" Adam turned to Steve (who had been poking her in the arm for the last couple of moments) in annoyance.

"Hey, you wanna go out to dinner Friday night?" He asked. Adam closed her eyes and sighed. Her lips pressed together in a thin line.

"Really?" She asked in a quiet voice. It was happy, it was like a death sentence, "You honestly asked me out?" She asked, "Here? Right after my friend gets her fingernail ripped out, by you mind it, and we're waiting in the hospital? While my other friend is having a mental breakdown?" Steve looked around and shrugged.

"Well, yea, it just seemed like the right time." He told her. Adam took one last breath in attempts to calm herself down.

"Not the time, man." She said in a dangerous voice and turned back to Sam, not really caring what happened to him.

"It's going to be okay, Sam." She told her friend again. Steve sighed and sat back down next to Dale. She looked at him in wonder.

"You did not just do that." Steve rolled his eyes at Dale.

"It seemed like a good time!" He defended in a whiny voice. Dale gave him a confused look.

"How?"

…

"Hey, Dale." Dallas said, sitting down next to her.

"Hey, Dallas." She greeted. She was so board. She hated hospitals. Wasn't Meg done getting her finger all stitched up or whatever? How long do these things take?

"Wanna see something funny?" Dallas asked her as he watched a tall blonde girl walk down the hallway.

"Sure." Dale shrugged and watched as Dallas winked and stretched his leg out. The blonde walked by and fell onto the ground. Dale gasped and Dallas tried hard not to laugh. A dark haired woman came after the girl. When she didn't said the woman pulled on her arm.

"Audrey!" She called and bent down to help her up but Audrey would not move, "Darling, are you crying?" The woman asked, "What is the matter?"

"Shelby died here!" She sobbed. The woman sighed and rubbed the girl's (who was still lying face down on the floor, mind you.) back.

"I know, honey, we all miss Aunt Shelby, but we have to go now." Audrey let out another sob and began to crawl away.

"Honey, walk!" The woman pleaded though Audrey only shook her head.

"I don't deserve to walk!" She cried and continued on her way, followed by her concerned mother.

Dale turned to Dallas, "Wow." She told him. He started to comment but she cut him off.

"Just. Wow."

…

Meg walked out of the hospital swaying. Pony had an arm around her waist so she wouldn't fall down.

"What exactly is going on with her?" Hunter asked him as Meg walked dangerously close to a wall.

"She was still freaking out," Pony explained, "So they gave her nitrous oxide."

"Nitrous oxide?" Sodapop asked.

"Laughing gas." Hunter clarified. Soda nodded and quickly looked away. (Things were still pretty awkward between the two. Getting slapped or almost killed with a knife does, usually, give off an awkward vibe to all those involved.) Hunter sighed and watched with sad eyes as he hurried to catch up with Steve.

"You know," Meg told her in an almost drunken voice and slapping her stupidly on the arm, "If you love him so much, you should do something about it."


	17. This is How I Dissapper

**I call this, an interesting twist... **

**Oh and believe me, there are more to come.**

**-Jasmine**

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Sam asked Dallas she put her coat on. Dallas rolled his eyes.

"Samantha..." Dallas said in an exasperated tone though his sentence was stopped shot by a threatening look from Darry.

"You wanna say something?" Darry asked in a dangerous voice. Dallas didn't like taking crap from anyone, but even Dallas Winston did want to push Darrel Curtis when it came to the girl he loved. That went for most of the Curtis family. When their loved one's were in danger, they were a force to be reckon with. A lot of people said it was a good thing but Dallas had a feeling that it would get them into big trouble one day. Dallas just put his hands up and watched Darrel, Sam, and the other's leave for the day. (They were going to some water park or something. Either way Dallas had no intent on going.)

Once Dallas heard the door close he turned his back on it. He sighed and rubbed this temples as he went into the kitchen. Dallas sat down on the stool and rolled an orange back and forth across the bar. The only noise in the room was the ticking of the clock. Dallas gave the orange a little too hard a shove and it flew over his hand and tumbled to the ground. Dallas watched it roll away.

Eve used to love oranges. Dally always hated oranges. He didn't like that they were so rough on the outside and weird and squishy on the inside. Eve had made him eat an orange once. Now she hated him.

Hated him!

Eve had been different when they met. Eve had been a nice girl who cared about everyone. She would stop to help anyone, no matter who they were. She would take all the time she needed to help them. He messed her up, though. After he got together with her, she changed. After they started sleeping together she became a totally different person. She started to become what most of his girls were like. She started to act like trash. Did she still act like that? She didn't seem like it at the wedding but who was he to know? He wasn't good at anything that had to do with girls.

Anything, except wrecking them.

He couldn't do that to Dale, could he? Dallas groaned and went to the liquor cabinet. There was a bottle of vodka that he had hidden about a week ago. IT was a good thing, too. He really needed that drink right then. Dallas didn't bother to grab a glass and began to drink out of the bottle.

He couldn't hurt Dale. He couldn't. He couldn't do to her what he did to Eve. Why did he suddenly care, anyways? She was just a damn broad. Maybe... Maybe it was because she had promise. She had a chance of getting out of town and going someplace. Eve did too. He hadn't realized it and he had killed her dreams. He really was a horrible person.

He really was the worst type of guy out there. Did the girls even notice? Did the realize it when they were losing everything that they had worked to be? Did they see every chance of a somewhat okay life slipping away from them? If they ever did notice, when?

Sylvia had noticed when her life turned into mush. Oh, she had noticed. She had been such a good girl. She had worn nice, long, and respectable skirts and her shirts had never gone much further than her collar bone. Heck, before he and Sylvia had started dating Sylvia didn't even know how to wear make up! Then, Dallas had found out.

The day that Dallas found out about Sylvia was a day he would never forget. The day he found out she was cutting herself... He had ruined her life so much that she was cutting herself. He really was a horrible person. He really was a monster. Eve was right. He was a monster who wasn't good for anything.

Except hurting people.

That really was all he did. HE hurt people and then, because he was angry about hurting people, he could hurt even more people. He was a monster and he didn't deserve to be alive. Dallas took another large swig out of the vodka bottle.

Life really does suck, doesn't it?

How bad would a normal person feel if they found out that their girlfriend's parents disowned her and she was reduced to cutting herself to escape from the pain? Dallas hadn't even felt that bad when he first found out. Actually, he had taken the knife from her and slept with her. Now, he had his reasoning... It was a good distraction from the pain. (Dallas knew that first hand.) Though he still should have done something. He should have helped her somehow. He was the one who did it to her and then he just left her to die when he picked up Eve. And then... He did the exact same thing to Eve.

He was a horrible person.

Now? Now he was going to do it to Dale. No. He couldn't. He wouldn't. He would not do that to another girl. He couldn't do that to Dale. It was getting too late, though. Dale was already changing. She was wearing more make up, and wearing tighter clothes... He could not do that to her. HE WOULD NOT LET HIMSELF.

Dallas looked down at the vodka bottle. Where had it all gone? He turned up to the clock. It wasn't that late but A good sleep wouldn't hurt him. It would take forever to fall asleep with all that was going on in his brain. Dallas got up the stairs as fast as he could and walked into the bathroom. A few sleeping pills would knock him right out. He needed a good dreamless sleep.

Hell, he needed one forever.

A few moments after the pills were down his throat, Dallas was feeling sleepy. He looked down at the box.

_WARNING: DO NOT MIX WITH ALCOHOL_

_COULD BE FATAL._

Dallas laughed at that. God, he hoped so.

Dallas didn't even make to to the bedroom before the drugs took effect. He passed out there, right at the top of the stairs. If the drugs didn't hurt him... Well, the fall down the iron spiral stairs sure did.


	18. The Kids From Yesterday

**Okay. Guys you better read this. I would like to hear your opinions. I don't think I really will continue this story. I'm sorry, but I feel like no one is really reading this. Time travel stories used to be loved. I don't feel like they are anymore. I hate to be a mean author that begs for reviews (Because, trust me, I feel horrible that I even have to do this.) but... please?**

**-Jasmine**

The gang all sat around in a circle. The air was stuffy and no one moved. Steve stood up and glared.

"You." He called out and clenched his fist, "Did you read that author's note?"

The gang sat in silence as they watched the reader scroll back up and read the author's note.

"Yeah." Steve said, "That's what I thought."

...

_ To unexplain the unexplainable, drain all the blood and give the kids a show. By street light this dark night, the silence down below. There's things that I have done. You should never know. And without you is how I disappear._

It had been two months since the accident. Ever since then... Well, things had changed a lot. There was a general gloom cloud over everyone but, somehow, they were all still walking. They day they saw the body still haunted everyone's minds, though.

Dale had walked in the door first. (It was her house, after all.) The moment she walked in she saw him lying there. His arms were bent at odd, not natural angles. His legs were scraped and a small blood puddle was growing around his left calf. There was a streak of blood running down his head as well. Naturally, Dale had screamed. Everyone came rushing in. Sam started to cry like no tomorrow. Dale did, too. She had liked Dallas a lot more than she had shown. It made her regret that she didn't go on a date with him...

The odd part was, there was no death to report. You see, the moment everyone got there, the moment everyone saw the body... then there was no body. It was gone. The blood on the floor was gone. The blood on the stairs was gone. Everything was...

Gone.

No one really knew where the body went, Meg and Pony argued that it went back into the book, but no one really wanted to talk about it either. So, no one did. Dallas was never mentioned. There was no funeral. There was no... nothing. It was like he didn't exist. Technically, he didn't. A call had gone out to Eve to tell her and she offered to come but they told her nothing was going to happen. She stayed. She needed to stay, her and Adam's mother was getting worse.

…

"And the winner is, Adam Avion!" Adam grinned with pride as she got up from the mat and turned to the crowd. The cheering was great. Wow, here she was at Nationals! With Dale! Adam turned to the front row where all the gang was sitting. She flashed them a smile. She would have done something more but she knew that she must be on the big screen. She could hear Dale screaming from the performers' pit.

Adam looked down at the angry Texan girl she had just beat. She gave her a smile and held out a hand to help her up. The Texan just glared and spat out a tooth. Adam took a step back as the Texan pushed past her and left. Adam rolled her eyes and followed her out. She looked up to her coach to see who she would be fighting next.

_Tiffany Gerlo – Florida. _

"What do you think?" Adam asked. Coach shrugged.  
"You can take her." Adam grinned.

"Good. I'm gonna go get a drink with Dale, that cool?"

"Sure. You did good, kid."

"Thanks coach!" Adam called over her shoulder as she met up with Dale in the back room.

"That was some fight." Dale told her as she shook her head.

"I know!" Adam agreed, "I really thought I was going to lose." Dale laughed.

"You? Lose? Unheard of!" Adam laughed as her friend complemented her. Adam's laughing stopped short when she heard someone else walking down the hall behind them. Dale and Her both looked away from their hands for a moment and say it was the angry Texan girl. Adam looked back at Dale quickly, hoping she wouldn't do what Adam was sure she would.

"Hey!" Dale called and nodded her head for them to join them. Adam groaned. Dale always had to go and called over the girl who was angry at her. Adam watched in slight fear as the Texan girl smile and walked over.

"Good job!" She complemented Adam. Adam gave a slight smile from discomfort and went back to focusing on her hands and trying to make Dale walk a little faster.

Dale didn't.

Adam muttered something about it being luck.

"Don't sell yourself short." Dale told her and Adam rolled her eyes, hoping she would shut up. The Texan girl spoke up again.

"Come on, that was great!" She said and gave Adam a friendly shove on the arm. Adam didn't find it so friendly though when she lost her balance and feel the the floor.

Adam didn't think it was at all "friendly" when she felt the grin of bone on bone and as she fell flat on her butt. Adam looked down at her knee.

"PUT IT BACK!" Adam shrieked as she looked at her leg, as she looked at her knee cap, which was very far away from where it should be.

"PUT IT BACK!"

…

"There has been a change in the line up!" The announcer blared and Sam sighed, rubbing her temples. She loved Adam and loved watching her compete... but it was just too loud in there. Darry groaned and Sam had a feeling that they were thinking around the same lines.

"What now?" Darry asked. Sam shrugged and tapped her ears. She then pointed to the announcer's booth. Darry nodded and they both quieted down to find out what the problem was.

"Adam Avion will no longer be facing Tiffany Gerlo." Sam exchanged a worried look with Meg. Hunter looked around at the other guys but no one gave her any in=formation. If only Tyler or Johnny was there, they would do more than just stare at her.

"Tiffany Gerlo will now be facing Becky Hammond."

"Hey," Sodapop asked, "Isn't that the girl from Texas that Adam just bet?" Steve nodded.

"It is... So... Does that mean something happened to Adam?" Sam (Who had gone to many of Adam's competitions and seen things like this happen but never to Adam...) felt her heart drop into her stomach.

"They only take a player out," She said in a shaking voice, "If they cannot move." The whole group went quiet.  
"What happened?" Pony asked.

"Adam Avion has been taken out due to an injury to her leg." The coach behind Ponyboy said. Sam and Meg locked eyes.  
"Her knee." Meg said.

The last time it had happened it had been Halloween... They had all been thirteen at the time.

"_Thank you!" Sam called to the lady as they left her porch. She smoother out her French Peasant costume and smoothed out her curls which Adam had put in before they left Sam's house. Meg put a hand on Sam shoulder and her cape to her vampire hunter costume blew in the wind. She was about to Sam something when Gigi, dressed as a witch, cut her off._

"_Let her be abnormally polite, maybe it will get her somewhere someday." _

"_Maybe it will get her a good man." Eve said and ran a hand threw her long hair. (When they were young teen Eve had long hair while Adam had extremely short hair.) Eve was going as an, "Overly patriotic chick." (She was going to be the _ghost_ of an overly patriotic chick but the sheet didn't work.) Adam rolled her eyes, which were outlined in a thick black face paint to make it looked like she didn't have any flesh and was just eye sockets. She was going as Death and her entire face was a skull. (Kind of like a day of the dead mask.)_

"_Or she'll just be boring and get walked on for the rest of her life."_

"_Do you have to make everything depressing?" Katie (An old friend of theirs who had moved away the next year.) asked. Adam laughed and rolled er eyes again.  
"Says the girl who is scaring little kids with her crazy bird mask." She commented. Katie gave an exasperated sigh.  
"I'm Italian royalty! This mask is from Italy!"_

"_We know." Eve and Gigi said and then laughed and attempted to high five. (They missed.)_

"_Hey!" Meg called, hoping to save the banter for later, "Race you back to the car!" (Yea,they were way to lazy to walk everywhere. Sam's father was driving them to neighborhoods.)_

"_You're on!" Adam yelled and sprinted down the driveway. Though she fell and the others passed her. Adam let out a scream and the others only slowed down. Was she just playing a prank on them? When she screamed again they decided that she wasn't._

"_My leg!" Adam yelled, "My leg!" They had gotten Sam's father and took her back to Sam's house. They iced her leg all the night and she walked on Sam's old crutches around the house. They had never taken her to the hospital because her kneed only slid out and then back in but she did go to physical therapy for a few years and she didn't have anymore problems with it._

"Do you think...?" Meg asked. Sam shook her head.  
"I don't know!" She cried out and took her bracelet (Which was given to her a Sunday School when she was little and was usually wearing it. She closed her eyes and held it to her lips.

"I don't know..."


	19. Bury Me In Black

** Okay, this week was a fun one for me! Went on a bit of a "writing retreat" as my friends call it. No internet or cell phones so I got a lot of writing done! I actually wrote the ending to this story. Just not the like... seven chapters between this and that... details...**

**Please review! I was so glad to see the reviews for last chapter, that's what really got me writing this! Thank you all!**

**-Jasmine**

Adam sat in the hospital bed, board to tears. She was just sitting there, doing absolutely nothing. Actually, she was doing that only thing that was possibly worse than absolutely nothing.

She was waiting.

So Adam sat there, wallowing in self pity, while she waiting for the nurse to come back and help her in her immobilizer. (To keep her knee from sliding again. She had to stay in it for a week a least before she got moved into a j-cast.) Adam sat in silence and wished there was a window in her room. White wall. All she was looking at was a white wall. Only white wall. Not much is interesting on a white wall. There was a poster of the human body and another poster that listed easy ways to "get back in shape!" It was neon. Neon randomly on the white wall. Adam was just getting around to glaring at it when the door opened and her nurse, June, walked in.

"How are you feeling?" June asked. Adam rolled her eyes.

"I am so board." She complained. June rolled her eyes. June wouldn't be much older than Adam was. She must be just out of high school, like Adam. She was a cute person, Adam would admit. She had silky blond hair that was put back in two pig tails. Her brown eyes were smiling. She seemed like a cute girl and most diffidently had a boyfriend. Not like Adam was jealous; she had a boyfriend too.

"Well, you won't be in here much longer. We have your x-rays, nothing bad. You just need to strengthen you muscles. Go back to therapy for a while longer." June explained. Adam nodded and waved a hand.

"Got it." She said but June shook her head.

"Seriously. You're lucky you're not going into surgery for this." Adam nodded.

"I know." June helped get Adam into her cast. Adam frowned, she wouldn't like it but she would have to get used to it. This was going to be a long week.

"Oh, I need to call my boyfriend." June muttered.

"Why?" Adam asked, she didn't really care but it was better than silence.

"Oh, I'm just going to be late from work today. We were going to go to dinner tonight."

"I wish y boyfriend would do that. We were going to go out to dinner tonight but he had a family thing. Had to go to dinner with his cousin. Besides, I don't think I'm in any shape." Both Adam and June laughed.

"Who is your boyfriend?" Adam asked, she had lived here for a while, maybe she would know him.

"Oh!" June was just about to tell her when there was a knock on the door, "Who is it?" She asked.

"Me." and male voice called in. Adam was instantly confused. She knew that voice. She had heard it before; she was sure of it. Where? She door open quickly and June said,

"Adam, this is my boyfriend, Danny." Danny. No. June stepped aside and saw him. There he was, blue eyes still blue and dark brown hair still messy. Danny, her Danny. Kissing another girl.

Why do these things always happen to _her_?

…

Adam cleared her throat and the couple pulled apart. When Danny saw her shock was written on his face clearly. He was about to say something when Adam cut him off.

"Don't." She told him, "Just don't. I don't want to hear it. I thought that you of all people would understand. I thought you would know what that does to a person because you've seen the effects. Thanks Danny, thanks a lot." Adam grabbed her crutches and stood up with the help of the fussing (and confused) June. Adam was just out the door when she heard June ask Danny,

"What was that?"

"I have no idea." He told her. Adam stopped dead in her tracks. She spun around and slapped him in the face before teetering and almost losing balance on her crutches.

"Don't you dare." She hissed out, "Don't you dare!" She was yelling now, "I can understand if you lie to me but this girl has done nothing wrong! You are a horrible person. You think that you can just get away with this? You think that you can just tell her you don't know me and it will be fine? You think you two will go to dinner tonight like nothing happened?

"News flash, Danny: you don't kiss your cousin. Good cover up though. I thought it was a nice touch, too bad you ruined it. Before that it was very believable. Did you just get that with practice?"

"Danny, what is she talking about?" June asked. Adam laughed and turned the to very frightened June.

"Darling, I would hate to tell you this," She said in a tone that suggested that she didn't at all hate saying it, (In fact it almost sounded like she was going to burst out laughing at any moment...) "But your darling boyfriend over there was cheating on me with you."

"Actually," Danny said quietly, "I was cheating on her with you." Adam sighed.

"Darling, I don't think that helps you any." She patted his cheek and walked away. She heard a sharp sound of skin on skin and was sure that June had slapped him as well.

…

Adam walked into the lobby in time to see everyone sitting there. Steve, Sodapop, and Sam were all arguing with the doctor to let them threw.

"We're family!" Sam yelled.

"It doesn't matter!" The doctor told her, "Miss Avion will be out any moment now, you going back would be pointless!"

"I don't care!" Steve roared. Adam rolled her eyes and coughed loudly. Everyone turned to see her.

"Oh Adam!" Sam yelled and pulled her in a hug.

"Sam, knee!" Adam struggled to say and Sam pulled away at once. Steve walked over and smile.

"I'm glad your okay." He told her. For one of the first times since Steve showed up, Adam smiled back. She then turned to Sam.

"Sam, will you, Meg, Hunter, and Dale drive me home?"

"Actually, Sodapop and Darry drove here." Sam told her. Adam shook her head.

"Then take one of their cars and drive me home." She said and gave a sharp look. Sodapop handed over his keys and the girls hurried off. The boys followed, wondering what was going on. Their car was across the lot but they could still see them. They watched as everyone got in the car. At once they understood why the girls were driving alone. The minute the car door closed, Adam burst into sobs.


	20. SCARECROW

**Can I say something?**

**Oh course I can, I'm the author.**

**So you better listen**

**-mean face-**

**I am very disappointed in you all. Very. I know you people are reading because I see the story traffic! I know there are people who are willing to review because they did did for the last chapter.**

**So... what?**

**Anyone home?**

**Robin. Shelbator. Thank you.**

**All of you others? Shame. Shame on your SOUL.**

**Yes. I went there.**

**Disgrace.**

**-Jasmine**

"If I don't get out of this house this minute, I might just explode," Tyler told Johnny as she paced in his room. He sighed and sat up on the bed.  
"It's not that bad," he told her.  
"Not that bad? Not that bad?" Ty ranted. "Are you kidding? This entire house just emits fumes of misery and depression!"  
"I think you're being a little dramatic, Ty," Johnny told her.  
"Have you ever walked by Dale's room at night?" Ty complained. "All she does is sob about Dallas! And all Adam does it sit and stare at a wall! Hunter won't even eat because Soda still doesn't like her, and Soda won't do anything but be mean to Hunter!"  
"Okay," Johnny said in attempts to calm her down, "how about we leave the house today? Go to the park or something." Ty nodded.

"Sure," she told him. "This house is getting me so worked up. Why can't these people just deal? It's making everyone on edge. I just know a fight is going to break out soon." Johnny laughed.

"Come on," he told her and they went out the door.

"Well," Sam said with a huff, "I really wish I could tell you but I can't." Darry groaned.  
"You won't even tell me? The guy who's desperately in love with you?" he asked. "The guy you're desperately in love with?" he added with a grin. Sam pushed him lightly with her arm and started spooning the cookie dough onto the pan.  
"I can't tell anyone," she told him and slapped his hand when he tried to take some of the batter. "Not even you. Don't worry, though, you'll find out soon enough."  
"But I want to find out, now!" Darry whined like a little kid. Sam rolled her eyes, again.  
"If I let you eat one of these cookies, will you stop bugging me about this?" she asked. Darry gave her a long, calculating look.  
"Maybe."

Steve Randle couldn't be more confused if he tried. First, Adam pushes him away like there is no tomorrow. Then, she goes to the hospital, and it's like she loves him again. What the heck happened at that hospital? She was now going to the movies with him, when she wasn't just staring at the wall. Steve figured that was just because she was in her knee brace again. She had told him that she hated it. And now, they were hanging out so much! Not like he was mad about it, though. He just wanted a few explanations. She was like his Adam again, but something was still up. He was going to figure it out, too. He was going to figure it out, even is he really didn't want the answer.

"This is nice." Tyler said and snuggled up closer to Johnny. He smiled and looked at the park. There were little kids playing in the sandbox and on the slide and mothers scattered around the park making small talk with one another. One little kid passed by them. She had big blond pigtails and was wearing a pink dress. She held her mother's hand tightly and watched Johnny and Tyler with big brown eyes.  
"Mommy!" She called out and pointed. "That lady has a pig!" The mother put the girls arm down and told her in a harsh voice, "Don't point, Shelby, it's rude." She sent an apologetic look at them and hurried off, pulling her daughter,"Come on, Shelby," she said.  
"SHELBY!" the girl on the bench next to them cried out ."I miss her so much! Why? Why, God, why?" she yelled and fell off the bench and curled into a ball at it's feet. Johnny raised his eyebrows at Tyler, and she tried not to laugh.  
"Come on," Johnny told her. "Let's go get some ice cream."

Pony and Meg sat on the couch together as they watched TV.  
"This is boring," Meg complained. "Can't we watch something else?" Pony shook his head.  
"How is the history of plankton boring?" he wondered.  
"I can't believe you just asked me that." Meg raised her eyebrows.  
"What's wrong with plankton?" Pony asked.  
"What isn't wrong with it?" Meg yelled.  
"Well, you don't have to get pissy about it," Pony muttered.  
"I'm not getting pissy!" Meg yelled. "You're the one who likes watching the history of algae!"  
"Plankton!" Pony yelled.  
"What's the difference?" Meg yelled back. They were both standing, and both were extremely mad. Pony's teeth were grinding together.  
"What's the difference? How can you ask that?"  
"Like this! What. Is. The. Difference?"  
"Plankton isn't an algae!"  
"Well, excuse me if I don't know everything about algae!"  
"You would if you were actually watching!"  
"You know what?" Meg yelled, slamming her hand on Pony's chest and shoving him back. "If you like plankton so much, marry it!"  
"Fine!" Pony yelled. "I wouldn't want to marry anything else! At least plankton knows it's not an algae!"  
"Fine!" Meg yelled, and Pony stormed up the stairs, slamming the door of his and Johnny's room. Meg sighed and sat down on the couch.  
What did she just do?

"Sodapop!" Sam called upstairs. "Can you come down here a minute?" Hunter, who was sitting on the couch next to Sam, sat up frantically.  
"What are you doing?" she hissed out.  
"This is your last chance," Sam told her and ran into the kitchen just as Soda walked in. He took one look at Hunter and glared.  
"Oh great, it's you."  
"Come on, Soda," Hunter sighed. "I get it that you don't love me-"  
"You bet I don't love you," he told her.  
"You can at least be nice to me!" she shouted. "I take all your crap day after day, and I don't say anything to you. I just nod because you're blowing off steam about Gigi, but she's gone, Sodapop! Gone! She's never coming back!"  
"Shut up!" Soda yelled back. "Shut up! You don't know anything about her!"  
"Yes I do!" Hunter yelled. "I had to leave my boyfriend back in Texas when my brother moved to be with Sam!"  
"Well, your brother and Sam are nothing anymore, so why don't you just go back to your pathetic boyfriend?"  
"Fine!" Hunter yelled, tears in her eyes. "Fine! I will. I hope I never see your slimy face again!" Then, because she couldn't think of anything worse to say, she threw a lamp at him. She then stormed out of the house. She flung open the door and ran into someone else.  
"Sorry," she muttered and pushed past them, wanting nothing more than to get off the property as fast as possible.  
"That went well," Sam muttered from where she stood, leaning in the doorway. Soda sighed and tried his best to stop the blood flow from his eyebrow where the lamp had hit him.  
"Whatever," he muttered. There was a knock on the door, and Soda groaned.  
"If that's Hunter..." he trailed off, and Sam smiled.  
"I don't think it is. I think I know exactly who it is," she ran over and flung open the door, squealing.  
"Welcome back," she said and moved aside for Soda to see. His mouth dropped open.  
"Gigi?"


	21. The Ghost of You

**Good to hear from me again?**

**Well, I'm just gonna say... Review. Really, it's all I ask.**

**-Jasmine**

Gigi felt like she was suffocating.  
"Can't! Breathe!" she tried to get out, but her attackers didn't care. She didn't even know who was hugging her. She had seen Sodapop, Sam and then... hug attack. Were they teaming up? Were they trying to kill her because she left? What was going on? She was just starting to see spots when the hugging stopped. She gasped for breath and dropped down to the floor, struggling to breathe.  
"I think you broke her," a distant and spacing voice said; it was laced with giggles.  
"I'm...fine..." Gigi coughed out. She finally got enough air back to stand up and look around. Everyone was there. Sam stood next to Darry, and she was smiling like crazy. Sam had filled her in about her and Darry.

Gigi couldn't help but be happy; she always thought that Darry was a better match for Sam than Joe. Adam stood next to Steve, who had an arm around her. Gigi wasn't at all sure what that was about. Sam said that Adam and Steve were still broken up, but did let her know that Adam's new boyfriend had been cheating on her. Gigi looked down at Adam's knee and saw that it was stuck in a brace again, and she frowned.

Next to them were Tyler and Johnny, apparently the new couple in the house. (Next to Adam and Steve, but Gigi wasn't really sure if they were a couple, or if Adam was just suffering from brain damage.) They looked cute enough together. Ty was a little spacey, but she probably made Johnny open up a bit more. Pony stood next to them with a frown on his face and appeared to be muttering something about plankton. Next to him was Sodapop, who was smiling like crazy. Oh, it felt good to see that smile again. She couldn't help but smile back. Then there was Dale, who was looking just... depressed. Meg was next to her, looking similarly sad. Gigi didn't need to ask where Dallas was; Sam had filled her in on that. That must be why Dale was looking so depressed.  
"What made you come back?" Sodapop asked. Gigi smiled and pointed to Sam.  
"It was all her doing."  
…

Gigi sat at the kitchen counter, finally getting some peace and quiet, and sipped on a glass of water. She didn't even notice when someone sat down next to her.  
"Hey."

Gigi almost jumped out of her seat, it scared her so bad. She clutched her heart and turned to her "attacker."  
"Hey, Sodapop," she greeted.  
He smiled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."  
"I know," she told him. "It's okay." The nice feeling of warmth that there was when they first met up was gone. And overall feeling of awkward was there, and it wasn't leaving. Gigi's blue eyes were looking right at Sodapop's deep, rich brown ones. Though she knows she hurt him, they are still kind. They are still as welcoming as always. Though Gigi still can't bring herself to talk to him.  
"You cut your hair," Soda commented. Gigi was confused for a moment; then she remembered. It had been a long time since she changed her hair. She had gotten it cut the day after she left. Before that, she had long hair that went to around to the small of her back. Now her white blonde hair curled around her chin.  
"Yes," she confirmed, "I did."  
"I think it looks nice," Sodapop said. His voice was quiet. His eyes were welcoming like nothing had happened, but his voice was different. It was guarded and soft. It was almost like he was talking to a wild animal. It was like he thought that if he talked too loudly, Gigi would get scared and run off.  
"I didn't mean it, you know," she told him. Soda's eyes narrowed and his head tilted to one side.  
"Mean what?" he questioned in that still, quiet voice.  
"That I never loved you." Gigi's voice matched his almost exactly.  
Sodapop's confusion was gone in an instant and replaced by hurt and sadness,"You said it convincingly enough," Gigi looked down. Words couldn't describe how bad she felt about what happened.  
"I know," she tells him. "It hurt a lot to say it." She didn't really know what she was saying. Just whatever was on her mind. She never had to calculate what she was going to say when she was talking with Sodapop; not like she did with everyone else. Sodapop was easy to talk to; he always had been.

"It hurt more to hear it," he told her.  
Gigi sighed, "Would it help if I told you that I always loved you?" she asked.

Sodapop smiled his winning smile,"A little," he told her, and before she could say it again, he sealed her lips with a kiss.  
…

The whole gang sat in the store and munched on cookies.

"I don't know how you did all this without any of us knowing," Darry commented. Sam laughed.

"It wasn't easy. Trust me, opening your own cookie shop while your business partner is living in Singapore is quite the task."

Gigi laughed, "Well, sorry about that. I'll try not to get my life totally flipped upside down again.

Sodapop pulled her closer to him,"You better." Gigi smiled up at him and gave him a peck on the lips.  
Meg groaned, "Please stop with the mushy stuff before I vomit." Everyone rolled their eyes. Both Meg and Ponyboy had not been terribly nice company since their break-up. Whenever Meg was around and Ponyboy could help it, all he talked about was plankton. It was horribly annoying and very boring.  
"I'm so glad I don't have to listen to your mushy ramblings anymore," Pony muttered.  
"Oh, you were the bad mushy one. Every other sentence with you is 'I love you,'" Meg pointed out.  
"That's more than you ever said it," Pony countered.  
"Guys!" Ty yells over Meg's retort. "Spread that love... and be quiet." Johnny laughed and whispered something into her ear, and Ty laughed, too. Meg made a vomiting motion behind the happy couple.  
"Oh, Meg, stop being pissy," Adam ordered.  
"Finally! Someone feels my pain!" Pony yelled.  
"Ponyboy," Steve warns, "if you don't be quiet you're going to feel a lot more pain." That shut Pony up, and no one bothered to tell Steve that it wasn't nice, because, frankly, everyone was dying to say it.  
"Well," Sam said, "I think big things are going to happen in this cookie shop."  
"Me, too," Gigi agreed.  
They were right, of course, but that's the bad part.


	22. Teenagers

**Greetings! I love to hear from you! Let me know what you think!**

**-Jasmine**

Adam's world was upside down. Really, it was. She sighed and got back into an upright position from her handstand. The feeling of dread was not gone. She was still confused. She thought about taking a shower. If doing a handstand wasn't giving her any ideas, then a shower probably could. Though still, this seemed like one of those problems where there really wasn't a solution.

Steve walked in and smiled at her.

"Hey, you think we could see a movie tonight with Gigi and Soda?" he asked. Adam shook her head. Steve gave her a confused look. She hadn't been turning down any of his offers lately. They were a couple again, were they not? That didn't mean they had to go on every date that was in his head, but still...

"Wanna do something else, then?" he asked. Adam shook her head again.

"I don't want to do anything. I have some stuff I need to sort out," she told him. Worry set into Steve. "Stuff" was never a good thing with girls.

"Want me to help?" Steve asked. "I'm pretty good at sorting stuff." Adam shook her head once again.

"I think I need to do this without you."

Steve looked at her for a long, calculating moment; then nodded.

"Okay," he told her. "Let me know if you change your mind." Adam nodded and pushed Steve out the door. When it closed, he heard the lock click. About two weeks had passed since Gigi came back, and Hunter had left for Texas. The odd feeling Steve had about Adam had gone. It was back now; something was off. Steve waved it off. He and Adam were doing fine. If something was wrong, she would tell him.

Right? 

…

Meg sat at the cookie store counter with Dale and Ty as Gigi and Sam iced cookies.  
"I can't believe he still isn't talking to me," Meg said. Sam sighed and handed Meg one of the frosted cookies. It was pink, Meg's favorite colour.

"He's a stupid teenage boy. What do you expect?" she asked.

"Yeah," Gigi piped up. "Give it a few more weeks and he'll realize how horrible life is without you and come crawling back." Meg shook her head.

"I don't think so," she told them. Dale put an arm around Meg's shoulders.

"Worst case, you can join me in being lonely and loveless for the rest of you life." The cheeriness with which Dale offered the option made Meg pray that it didn't come down to that.

"What was the fight even about?" Sam asked.

"Plankton!" Meg yelled in exasperation. "Of all things, plankton!"

"Okay, that's a little weird," Gigi commented.

"Maybe it went deeper than that for him," Ty told her.

"Pony has always been a bit on the pansy-sensitive side," Ty added. Meg frowned and gave her a light slap on the arm.

"How could it be deeper?" She wondered. 

_ "If you like plankton so much, marry it!"_

_"Fine!" Pony yelled, "I wouldn't want to marry anything else! At least plankton knows it's not an algae!"_

_"Fine!"_

"Pony did say he was going to marry you," Tyler told her. Meg's eyes went wide.

"He did?" she asked. Ty nodded. All the other girls were staring at her in disbelief.

"How do you know this?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Gigi asked, "how?"

"Oh," Ty said in her bubbly voice, "I hear things."

"What kind of things?" Dale asked. Meg nodded, wanting to know more. All the girls were hanging onto Tyler's words like they were life themselves.

"Well, I heard him talking about it with Sodapop," Ty said simply.

"What else did you hear?" Meg asked.

"About him marrying you? Not much else." Meg's face fell.

"What about other things?" Gigi asked.

"Steve is worried about Adam," Ty pointed out.

"Why?" Sam asked

"Her knee?" Dale tried.

Ty shook her head, "Worse. I'm surprised Adam hasn't told any of you yet. I guess she just can't think of how to."

"Told us what?" Gigi asked. She was always a curious one.

"Is it about Danny?" Meg wondered.

"Nope," Ty said. "She got over Danny faster than I thought."

"That's because she never loved him," Sam said. Dale nodded in agreement.

"Well," Ty said, "I think she'll tell you all soon."

Sam sighed, "You know that, now curiosity is going to kill us all, right?"

Ty smiled, "Yup!"  
…

Pony sat at the kitchen counter with Johnny as Soda and Darry made sandwiches.

"Do you think Meg misses me?" he asked. Darry sighed and set down his knife.

"Honestly? Yes," He told him and handed a sandwich over to Pony.

"Why wouldn't she? You're amazing," Soda told him, ruffling his hair.

"Our fight wasn't even that big," he said. "I don't know why she hasn't apologized to me yet."

"Buddy," Darry told him, "I think she's waiting for you to apologize to her."

"What?" Pony asked. "She's the one that told me my interests are boring and I should marry plankton."

"Don't question women," Soda advised. "You'll die trying to figure it out. Just get her flowers and say you're sorry."

"No!" Pony yelled out. "No, I'm not apologizing to her."

"You might have to," Johnny said. "I think she took it to heart more than you think.

_"If you like plankton so much, marry it!" _

_"Fine!" Pony yelled, "I wouldn't want to marry anything else! At least plankton knows it's not an algae!"_

_"Fine!"_

"It was a fight about plankton! How does someone take that to heart?" Pony yelled.

"I think she was subtly hinting that you should spend more time with her," Johnny said.

"Oh?" Soda asked. "And how would to know this?"

"I'm dating Tyler. I hear everything."

"What does that mean?" Darry asked.

"She hears what everyone says," Johnny told them.  
"Everything?" Pony asked.

"Yup," Johnny said. "She told me months ago that you were planning to marry Meg." Darry dropped his knife and almost cut his hand open.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Darry asked. "Did you know about this?" he asked Sodapop, who gave a guilty nod. Darry shook his head and muttered something about how "no one tells him anything."

…

Adam sighed and went over what she was going to say one last time in her mind. Rip it off like a band-aid. Rip it off like a band-aid.

"Steve?" she called in, knocking on his door. The door almost instantly opened.

"Yeah?" he asked. Adam gave him a sweet smile.

"Can I come in?" she asked. He nodded and moved aside.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Take a seat," she told him. Worry was overwhelming Steve once more. "Take a seat" is almost always followed by, "I want to take some time off" with girls.

"What's up?" Steve asked again.

"Steve..." she said. "I don't know how to say this..." All her practice for what to say flew out of her mind. Steve stood up.

"You're not breaking up with me, are you?" he asked in a panic. This took Adam aback.

"What? No..." she said. "Steve... I'm pregnant."

Steve Randle promptly fainted.


	23. Helena

**So... yea.**

**I was going to wait longer to updated because of the lack of REVIEWS. But... I had to updated because Andy Cade's life was depending on it. Couldn't go and let little of Andy Cade DIE, could I?**

**No.**

**So this one is for you Andy Cade... for you.**

**-Jasmine**

_Month One._

"It is two in the morning," Darry ranted to Sam. "What is everyone still doing awake?" Sam sighed.  
"Adam has morning sickness," she explained.  
"Sometimes I really hate Steve," he told her.  
"You don't mean that," she assured him. Darry shook his head.  
"No. Really. I'm gonna kill him," he told her.  
"Just do back to bed," she told him.

...

The next morning at breakfast, Darry tried to kill Steve. It was an interesting meal, alright.  
"What was that for?" Steve asked, rubbing his neck.  
"You. Getting Adam pregnant," Darry said with irritation. Steve held his hands up.  
"Whoa, man, I thought you liked Sam..." he said.  
"Not like that!" Darry yelled. "I'm just sick of waking up in the middle of the night because she's vomiting!"  
"Well," Steve said, "I can't really do much about that."  
"You're the one that got her pregnant!" 

_Month Two_

"I can't believe it!" Adam's dad said over the phone. "How did this happen?"  
"Well, Dad," Adam explained, "when two people love each other..."  
"Don't," he stopped her. "Just don't." Adam laughed.  
"Well, I'm not happy this is stopping you from sports," he told her. Adam sighed.  
"Dad, I was taking a year off for my leg anyways," Adam pointed out.  
"I know..." he told her. "I just... can't believe that I'm going to be a grandfather. You're making me so old!"  
"I'm making myself a mother. Don't you think that makes me feel old, too?" Adam rolled her eyes.  
"Yeah, yeah... Did he at least propose the moment he found out?" her dad asked.  
"Yeah," Adam told him, "After he became conscious again."  
"He fainted." Adam knew her dad was secretly laughing in his head.  
"Hey!" Adam defended her husband-to-be. "It's big news."  
"I didn't faint when I found out," he told his daughter.  
"Mom says you did."  
…

_Month Three_

"Aww!" Sam said, and she help up a little teddy bear and baby hat. "Look what Eve sent!" Adam smiled.  
"That's so nice of her," she said and picked up the card.  
_Congrats! I can't wait to get a picture. Maybe you could fly out for a weekend. I miss you all. I'm doing well with my new boyfriend, Ken. He wants to meet you all. Mom is doing better and was thrilled to find out! Here's a teddy bear and hat to keep the little baby warm and happy. I don't see how you crazy people can live so far north... Made them myself!_  
_Love,  
Eve_  
"That' sweet of her!" Meg said and held up the teddy bear.  
"It's so cute!" Ty commented. Adam laughed. Pony walked into the room.  
"Sam, have you seen..." He trailed off upon seeing Meg."Never mind, I'll find it myself." Meg sighed.  
"It's been months..." she whispered. Adam suddenly started to cry.  
"What's wrong?" Dale asked.  
"Are you in pain?" Gigi wondered.  
"It's just so sad!" Adam sobbed."Pony is such an ass!" Sam and Meg both face-palmed.  
"Adam can be really annoying when she has mood swings," Gigi commented, and Dale nodded. Ty shook her head.  
"I think it's adorable. She cares..." She rubbed Adam back as she sobbed into her shoulder.  
…

_Month Four_

Sam was having a more than difficult time trying to eat her lunch with Darry. Every time one of them opened their mouths to say something, a loud banging came from upstairs.  
"I need to go find out what's going on," Sam said and made a move to stand up.  
"No!" Darry told her, grabbing her hand. "The moment you stand up, it's going to stop."  
"I don't think so. They usually don't last this long," Sam pointed out.  
"Don't say I didn't warn you." Darry shook his head but let go of her hand.  
Sam walked into Adam's room to find her throwing various objects at Steve.  
"What's going on?" she asked Steve.  
"Duck!" he yelled and pulled her to the ground as a lamp flew over their heads.  
"Bastard!" Adam yelled, "Why did you do this to me?"  
"What's going on, now?" Sam asked. Steve shrugged.  
"I don't even know anymore. I asked her if she wanted a go to the park, and she freaked out on me."  
"You're horrible!" she yelled, and this time a headband flew at them.  
"What's wrong?" Sam yelled at Adam. She stopped throwing objects for a moment and smiled at Sam.  
"Oh, Sam darling, I didn't see you there. How are you?" she asked in a sweet voice. Sam looked at her cautiously.  
"Fine..." she said, "What's going on...?" Adam broke down on the bed and began to cry.  
"My pants don't fit!"  
…

_Month Five_

Adam sat on the couch with Meg (who was, mind you still moping about Ponyboy).  
"Meg...?" Adam asked. Meg ignored her; she was watching Ponyboy towel off his hair from his swim in the pool.  
"Meg," Adam tried again. Still nothing.  
"Meg!" Adam screamed, and Meg jumped out of her seat.

"What?" she yelled back. Adam gave her a sweet smile.  
"Wanna be a doll and get me a glass of water?" she asked.  
"No. Why can't you do it yourself?"  
"Hello? Pregnant," Adam stated, pointing at her large stomach.  
"Damn you," Meg said and stormed off into the kitchen.  
…

_Month Six_

"Adam and Steve Avion?" the nurse called out nervously, looking at her papers to check that Adam was, indeed, a girl. When Adam and Steve stood up, she let out a deep breath.  
"This way," she said and lead them into the room. "Have a seat. The doctor will be right with you." Steve sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs after helping Adam lay down on the table. After a few minutes, the doctor came in.  
"Okay Miss..." He looked at his papers again. "...Avion. Let's have a look." The doctor pulled up her shirt and applied the blue gel to her stomach. Adam gasped at the coldness.  
"Yeah," the doctor told her, "it's cold, by the way."  
"Thanks for the warning," Adam said through gritted teeth. The doctor looked at the screen.  
"Everything looks pretty good," he told her. "Congratulations, Miss Avion, you'll be having a baby girl."  
...

_Month Seven_

"Aww!" Sam cried. "A baby girl. She's going to be so cute!" Adam smiled and rubbed her stomach.  
"What are you going to name her?" Gigi asked. A whirlwind of names spewed out of the girl's and a few of the boy's mouths. Just then Meg walked in. Pony stood up at once and walked out of the room. Meg frowned but sat down.  
"What's going on?" she asked.  
"We're thinking of baby names," Dale told her.  
"Name her Cirrus!" Tyler said. Everyone looked at her.  
"Like the cloud?" Adam asked.  
"No," Steve said. "My daughter is not being named after a cloud."  
"How about..." Gigi said, pausing. "How about Helena?"

"Helena..." Adam said. "I like it."


	24. Help

**You see, I was sitting at my desk and reading all these reviews (which are delightful and I would LOVE too see more of, glad that Andy Cade came back to life...) and I was thinking to myself,**

**Well, Jasmine, This is all just too happy!**

**So I though t I would fix that.**

**Don't be to happy about these two updates in one day...**

**You scared?**

**You should be.**

**-Jasmine**

"I don't see why we have to have your baby shower at our cookie shop," Gigi told Adam as she frosted a baby bottle-shaped cookie.  
"Because!" Adam argued. "It's my baby shower, is it not? If I wanna have my baby shower in a cookie shop, then, damn it, I will."  
"But then why," Sam asked, "are we having the baby shower at two in the morning?"  
Adam sighed, "I'm having a fucking baby," she told her. "Can't I do a few abnormal things every now and then?"  
"Now and then doesn't mean every minute of every hour of every day," Dale reminded her. Adam sent her a glare that shut her up. Steve circled an arm around Adam's waist.  
"Don't say hurtful things," He told her. Dale just laughed.  
"Come on, now," Sodapop said. "Let's go sit in the back room. I feel like I'm in a fishbowl out here with all these windows." Gigi laughed at her boyfriend's antics.  
"Okay. Go on, we'll meet out in there in a moment. We need to finish these cookies."  
"I think I want to stay and eat one of these cookies," Adam said and stayed sitting on the stool as her two friends frosted cookies and the others left to go wait in the back room.  
Then it happened.  
Then… their lives changed.  
The doors to the cookie shop were kicked open, and a man in dark clothes and ski mask walked in. He pulled out and gun and pressed it up against Adam's forehead.  
"Always go for the pregnant lady!" Adam yelled in annoyance, and Sam sent her a stern look. The robber (let's call him, robber thug 1) nodded at the cash box.  
"Give me the money," He demanded in a polite voice.  
Yeah, right.  
Robber 1 snarled and exposed his yellow teeth. Adam shrank back from his harsh breath that was coated in sorrow and hopelessness and… vodka. Neither Sam nor Gigi got a chance to respond in any way, shape, or form because at that very moment Sodapop walked in from the back room.  
"Hey, there was a weird noise…" Sodapop stopped his sentence at once and watched the scene before him with wide eyes.  
"What's going on?" He asked in a scared voice. He pulled his right foot back and slowly tapped on the door: … - - - …  
Meg would know what that meant, right? She had to. This was a matter of life or death.  
"Hands up, Buddy," Robber 1 ordered in a rough voice. Sodapop quickly thrust his arms into the air. He looked down at his feet. This could not be happening. This was not happening. Not after all that was finally going right. Not after he and Gigi had gotten back together. Not now. This could not be happening… It just... couldn't.

"I just don't understand!" Meg sobbed. "He won't even be in the same room as me! Does he hate me that much? Does he hate me so much that he can't even stand to be in the same room as me?" Tyler sighed and rested her head on Johnny's shoulder.  
"It's going to be okay, Meg," She told her sobbing friend.  
"How could you say that?" Meg cried louder.  
"You've done it now," Johnny complained. Tyler pushed his arm lightly. She was about to say something back when they all heard it.  
Tapping at the door.

Morse code?  
For… SOS?  
What was going on out front? Johnny and Tyler exchanged worried looks and turned to Meg.  
"Was that just the code for SOS?" Johnny asked.  
Meg shrugged, "I don't know. I don't know anything. It might have been; it might not have been. Who cares, anyway? Why does it matter? Maybe we're all just hearing it! I've been hearing SOS for days now. My whole life is one big SOS!" Meg began to sob once more, and Johnny and Tyler both knew that she was going to be no help in this situation.  
"Let's go out and look," Tyler suggested. Johnny nodded, and they both got up. Tyler turned to Dale.  
"Try and help Meg if you can, will ya?" she asked. Dale nodded and sat down next to the crying Meg.  
The moment Johnny and Tyler closed the doors, they knew that something was wrong.  
When they saw the gun held up to Adam's head, they knew it was real.  
When they saw three more robbers (Robbers 2, 3, and 4) walk in, they knew that they weren't getting out of this easily.  
Johnny didn't even know it was happening. If he had seen it coming, he would have done more to stop it. Before he could blink, Tyler was ripped away from his grip and held tightly by Robber 2. Johnny's heart skipped a beat.  
No.  
They could not take her.  
They would not take her.  
Not over his dead body.  
Johnny rushed forward and made a grab for Tyler to pull her back over to him. He needed her in his arms. He needed her to get out of there. He needed her to be safe. He didn't need her to be there. Though Johnny couldn't get her. Just as he was about to touch her, Robber 3 pulled up his gun and shot. Johnny coiled back in an instant and fell to the floor in pain. He looked down at his knee, and all he saw was a growing dark blotch. He didn't even feel the pain. He didn't even care. He needed Tyler. He needed her with him at that moment. He needed to kill one of those robbers. Johnny tried his hardest to stand back up, but he was only able to cry out in pain. He clutched his knee and sent Tyler an apologetic look. He should have seen it coming. He should have done something.

…

"What was that?" Dale asked.

Meg let out another loud sob,"My heart breaking!".

Steve shook his head,"No…. I'm pretty sure that was gunfire," he told her.

Dale gave him a worried look, "Go check it out," she told him.  
"Why me?" He asked,  
"Because you're the man!" she told him. Steve sighed and was about to complain more when he heard a loud scream the other side of the door. He knew that scream anywhere.  
Johnny. Steve was rushing out the door before Meg could sob for Ponyboy, or Dale could even tell him to be careful.  
Steve felt nothing but pure rage the moment he realized what was going on. When he saw the love of his life with a gun to her head…  
Steve let out a roar and made a move to charge at Robber 1, but he cocked his gun, and Steve stopped.  
"Where are all these people coming from?" Robber 2 yelled out, and Tyler hissed in pain as he gripped her arm a little too tightly. Johnny let out a growl from the floor. Steve looked down at Johnny with sadness. At that moment, while he was distracted, Robber 3 grabbed him from behind and held him with a strong grip. Steve growled and fought against Robber 3, thrashing around. Adam sent him a loving look.  
Then she started laughing like a mad man.  
Steve gave her a worried look as she fell into a fit of utter insanity.  
"What the heck is wrong with this one?" Robber 3 yelled.  
"She's fucking pregnant!" Steve growled out. "She's mood swingy!"  
"I didn't ask you!" Robber 3 yelled and pulled the trigger on his gun. Steve screamed out in pain, and Adam stopped laughing at once.  
"Steve!" she screamed and watched the blood ooze from his foot.  
Robber 4 turned from where he was holding a gun at Sam and Gigi.  
"Where are all these people coming from anyways?"  
"Back room!" Robber 2 yelled out.  
"On it!" Robber 4 yelled and rushed into the backroom.  
…

"Steve?" Dale asked as the door opened. She was so scared. What was going on?  
Dale never got her answer. The moment Robber 4 got in the door a bullet left his gun and was in her chest.  
"Dale!" Meg screamed. "Dale! Dale, why?" she sobbed. "Dale, wake up! Wake up!" Meg was shaking the bleeding body, and Robber 4 came up behind her and grabbed her. She kicked and screamed and was sobbing even harder. "MONSTER!" she yelled. "MONSTER! FUCKING MONSTER!" Robber 4 ignored her and pulled her into the front room of the store. He closed the backroom door with his foot. With a loud bang the backroom was closed off, leaving Dale's mangled body in there all alone to be discovered by who knows…  
"You killed her!" Meg yelled. "You fucking killed her!" This statement got pretty much everyone in the room to be silent. The only noise was the screaming and sobbing Meg.  
"Did you really?" Robber 3 asked as he struggled to contain Steve.  
"Yes," Robber 4 confirmed, "I really did."  
"You killed her dead!" Robber 3 screamed. "We weren't going to kill anyone! This wasn't in the plan!"  
"Screw the plan!" Robber 2 yelled. The rest of his sentence was drowned out because, at that moment, it hit Sam what was going on. She began to scream and sob.  
"Dale!" she yelled out and grabbed on to the counter in an attempt to stay standing.  
In all the panic, Sam's cell phone fell to the ground where all the robbers could see.  
The message was clearly sent.  
_HELP._


	25. Where did you get those stunning pants?

**You see... I would have posted this sooner but... you know... I recently became a... fan of... (addicted to) a video game... but! THREE HOURS AGO I BET IT! And then , of course, I dutifully went to posting this chapter.**

**So you're welcome.**

**You know how you can repay me?**

**Review.**

**And THEN... _maybe_...**

**someone will live.**

**ALSO!**

**I WANT THIS ON YOUR RADAR.**

**For the possible... third installment of this story... what couple is your favorite._ Also, give me a reason._**

**Trust me, it actually has value.**

**Oh! yea! Don't ask about the Chapter Title. Just... Don't.**

**-Jasmine**

Darrel Curtis burst out of the car and ran down the street as fast as he could. Something was up. He felt it in his gut. This wasn't a trick; Sam would never send him a message like that if she didn't mean it. Darry could hear his feet pounding on the pavement. The movement seemed to reverberate in his ears. He could see what was going on in the cookie shop from down the street. He could see it happening, and there was nothing he could do. There was nothing he could do when the bullet left Robber 3's gun.

As the bullet went right into Sam's neck.

He watched in complete horror as Sam fell back and gasped for air. The complete look of shock on her face…

Darrel ran faster.

He burst through the door and threw Robber 3 on the ground. He didn't even feel bad that he knocked out both the robber and Steve. He had only one goal at that moment.

Sam.

He had to help Sam.

Darrel jumped over the counter and held Sam in his arms.  
"It's going to be okay," he told her. He tried his hardest to keep the tears out of his eyes, or at least his voice.  
"It's alright. You're going to be fine. You're going to live. You're going to do that for me, Sam. You're going to live. You're going to live, damn it, Samantha, you're going to live!" Sam let out a cough and blood trickled down her chin as a tear rolled down her cheek. Darry wiped it away as best as he could. His hand was shaking like crazy.

"Sam…" he pleaded. "Stay with me, Sam. You've got to! You've got to stay with me, Sam!" he sobbed. Sam looked up at him with loving and half-closed eyes. The pain wasn't even clear in them.  
"Darrel…" she whispered out. "I can't…"

"Yes you can, Sam!" Darry yelled. "You can! I won't let you leave me!"

"Please, Darrel," she said in a weak voice. "Please let me die."

"No! No, Sam! I can't! I can't leave you!" he told her.  
"Yes…" she said, "Let me go… Let the pain… go..." With that word, Sam's eyes fluttered close and she let out one last breath. Darrel couldn't stop crying.  
"Sam!" he yelled. "Sam, come back! Come back, Sam!" he pleaded.

Meanwhile, while all this mush was happening, Adam was remembering that they were in the middle of a cookie store robbery gone rouge. Darrel got a sharp kick in the back. He looked up to see a teary eyed Adam.

"Go!" she mouthed and nodded her head towards Meg. Darry looked down at Sam's dead body once more. He had to save someone else. He was too late to save Sam… She would have wanted him to…

"Fine!" Robber 1 yelled out. "If this is how it's going to be, let's just start wasting people!" Darry growled and got up off the ground. He ran at Meg with full force. She tried her hardest to get out of Robber 4's grip, but he pulled out his gun and let out open fire.

So did robber 2.

And Robber 1.

Darry's body whipped around as bullets hit it everywhere: they flew into his arms, his legs, his neck, his eyes, his forehead, his chest. He fell to the ground with an ungraceful _thump _and lay mangled on the floor. He didn't look peaceful or triumphant. He just looked dead and bloody. Everyone watched in horror as the pool of blood around him slowly grew to be larger and larger.

Sobs were coming from everyone. No one knew just who they were for. Dale? Sam? Darrel?

All of them?

Meg was thrashing around even more, and Robber 4 steered her into a wall a few good times in hopes of knocking her out or something. No such luck, though.

This was turning out to be a lot more than they bargained for.

…

"Hello?" Ponyboy answered in a sleepy voice. Who would be calling him so early in the morning?

"Sam! Sam, come back! Come back, Sam!" Ponyboy heard his brother pleading on the other end. Ponyboy looked at the caller ID in confusion. It was from Sam. Had she butt-dialed him or something?

"Fine! If this is how it's going to be, let's just start wasting people!" Pony was taken aback by this comment, but it was the next few moments that really scared him to death.

Rapid gunfire.

His old brother grunting.

A body falling.

Sobbing.

Screaming.

What was going on?

….

"Is this not just peachy keen?" Adam asked. "Some baby shower of mine, huh? This is one for the history books. What do you think?"

"Shut up!" Robber 1 yelled. "Do you not get it? You are a hostage. You could die at any moment. Do you not understand that fact?"

"I'm not going to die!" Adam told him. The robber gave her an evil look.

"That doesn't mean I won't make you hurt…" he told her. Before Adam could do anything the robber was hitting her.

In her stomach.

"THE BABY!" Adam screamed, "Don't hurt the baby! Please! Please don't hurt the baby!" she begged. Robber 1 just gave her a merciless look and grabbed a knife from behind the counter before stabbing it into her large stomach. Adam couldn't stop sobbing. She looked around the room. Tyler was scared to death with tears flowing silently down her cheeks. Johnny was holding his bloody knee and trying his best to fix it to a point where he could walk and try to be helpful. Meg was still struggling in Robber 4's grip. Sodapop and Gigi… She couldn't find them. She looked down at Steve. He was just starting to wake up again. He finally opened his eyes just as Robber 1 pulled the knife up across her stomach. Adam collapsed. Steve let out another yell of fury and pulled up his strength to attack Robber 1 just as the door flew open and Ponyboy rushed in.

…

Ponyboy burst into the cookie store just in time to see Steve fall down. He didn't realize just what had happened to him until Adam started to scream for him. He looked down at Steve. His forehead had a large dark red hole in it. Ponyboy gasped. He turned around to look at Robber 1 and Adam. Robber 1 was looking at his gun in astonishment. No one else seemed to be moving. Robber 1 didn't even put up that much of a fight when Ponyboy pulled Adam out of his grip and she fell on top of Steve. Her sobbing was too much. The heartbroken, soul-ripping sound of yearning for a lost lover was too much or anyone to mess with at the moment. She hugged him close and ran her fingers over the bullet hole. It seemed so unreal… It just couldn't be happening. It could not. It simply could not.

"Monster!" Adam screamed at Robber 1. "You cold blooded, heartless monster!" Robber 1 looked down at the gun. Adam was right; he was a monster. He brought the gun up to his head. He didn't deserve to live.

He pulled the trigger, and it was quick and painless.

He didn't feel a thing.

…

Johnny called on all strength he had left and crawled over to Tyler while Robber 2 was distracted. She leaned down, and they kissed. After a moment, though, Tyler was yanked back up by an angry Robber 2.

"YOU!" he yelled and threw Tyler down on the floor before picking up Johnny. He grabbed Johnny's head in his large hands and smashed it into the wall.

Over.

And Over.

And Over.

"Stop!" Tyler screamed. "Stop! You'll kill him! You can't kill him, too!" Tyler looked desperately around for something she could use to stop him, but all she could see was Robber 2's gun. She picked it up and cocked it.  
"I didn't want to have to do this," she said to herself and opened fire on his back. Robber 2 slumped to the ground, and his grip on Johnny became nothing. Tyler threw the gun on the ground and picked up Johnny's head in her hands and put it gently in her lap. She looked at his bloody temples.

"Johnny?" she asked quietly.

"Johnny?" she asked again in a more urgent voice.

No answer. She felt for his pulse.

Nothing. Tyler began to sob. Before she knew what was happening another pair of arms was around her. She foolishly thought they we're Johnny's, but when they yanked her up into a standing position, she realized at once that they were not.

"No!" Tyler yelled. "You can't have me!" She brought her leg back with force right into his groin. Robber 3 doubled over in pain.

What Tyler didn't know (or maybe she did; maybe she knew it was going to happen) was that when Robber 3 woke up, he took Robber 1's knife that he had used on Adam. That knife was out when he doubled over in pain. That knife was out one minute and the next…Well, it was sticking out of Tyler's chest.

The worst part?

She died with a smile on her face.

She was happy, because she knew that she would be with Johnny then.

She was dead, and she was happy.


	26. What a fine selection of cheese you have

**Question time! A little Poll**

**Who here thinks this is a dream?**

**-Jasmine**

Adam lay under the counter with Sodapop and Gigi. She gasped in pain and held her stomach. She heard more pleading and banging on the other side, but she didn't want to think about what was going on. She didn't want to think about whom else might have died.

She looked over at Sodapop. She was thankful of him for risking his life and dragging her behind the counter where he and Gigi were hiding. If they could only find a way out now.

But what would Meg do?

They could not just leave her there. That would be too cruel. That would be like sentencing her to death. What about Ponyboy? Adam dared to look around the corner of the counter and saw him laying, bloody, under a table. Was he still alive? Adam didn't know. She hoped; that was all. That was all she could do now. Hope. Hope and hope and hope. Was that all she was reduced to now? Hoping and praying?

What good would praying do, anyways? Steve was gone. What good was living without Steve? Her baby was gone, too. She had nothing left that could even remind her of Steve. She didn't want to live in a world where there was no Steve. She couldn't live in a world where there was no Steve. She couldn't. She wouldn't.

…

Gigi held onto Sodapop's arm tightly as she heard more gunfire.  
"When is it going to stop?" she whispered to him in a scared voice.

Sodapop shook his head. "I don't know," he told her. "I would love to tell you soon, but I just don't know. I hope it stops soon."

Gigi nodded. "I hope it stops soon, too," she told him. There was a long quiet pause while both of them looked over at Adam. Did she realize that she was bleeding? Gigi wondered. Did she even know? Did she even care? Gigi wasn't sure about the answer to any of those questions.

Gigi turned back to Sodapop. "I love you," she told him. "I love you so much." Sodapop smiled at her, and Gigi wondered how he found the strength to smile at a time like that.

"I love you, too," he assured her and pulled her into a kiss. The kissed was cut short, however, when Gigi was yanked away. Sodapop looked up at Robber 3 with pure hatred as he held Gigi up by her hair. She was screaming bloody murder. Sodapop frowned when he realized why she was screaming bloody murder.

This WAS bloody murder. Sodapop looked over at Gigi and then at Adam who was laying on her back and looked very pale. Where would he go? Who needed his help more? What should he do?

"We don't need this shit!" Robber 3 yelled. "Let's just get rid of the witnesses!" Robber 4 looked down at Meg as Robber 3 encouraged him to kill her and help him.

"Don't," he heard Ponyboy croak out. "You can do better. Stop the evil," Ponyboy begged from under the table. "Stop this evil. You have the power… Stop this evil."

"Are you going to help me or not?" Robber 3 yelled in an angry voice as he shook Gigi. Robber 4 looked at him with big eyes.

"I'm having confliction!" he shouted back. Robber 3 rolled his eyes.  
"What the hell does that mean?" he wondered aloud, but before he let Robber 4 answer, he took matters into his own hands. He pulled the knife out of Tyler's chest and slid it across Gigi's throat in one fluid motion. Sodapop watched with wide eyes. He knew that she didn't feel as much pain now. She wouldn't hear the screaming. She wouldn't be hearing the sobbing now. She wouldn't be smelling the bodies and the blood now. She would be… at peace…

That doesn't mean he wasn't pissed.

Sodapop launched himself out from under the counter and threw himself at Robber 3. He didn't even feel pain as his knuckles cracked. He didn't feel it and didn't care when Robber 3 punched him back. He didn't feel it when Robber 3 shot him in the stomach.

Robber 3 kicked the non-moving, but still alive, Sodapop back under the counter where Adam lay, alive but also still. Ponyboy watched the robber kick his brother, and fury overcame him. He looked over at Meg and exchanged one last loving look with her. She had to know... she had to know that he loved her. She had to know that he wasn't still mad at her. He hoped she knew…

Ponyboy ran and picked up Robber 3's gun. He shot him in all the places it would hurt but it wouldn't kill. His feet. His arms. His knees. His elbows. His groin. His shoulders. Ponyboy had enough of suffering now. He took aim at Robber 3's heart. He pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.

He was out of bullets.

"I guess you're just going to have to bleed out," Ponyboy told him and gave him a disgusted look.

"Pony…" Meg whimpered out and struggled out of Robber 4's grip. Robber 4 was like a statue then. He wasn't hurting her, but he wasn't doing anything. He was just holding her there.

Robber 3 watched as Ponyboy walked past him. His ankle was right next to his hand. Robber 3 grabbed it with his last strength, and Ponyboy fell to the ground. He fell and hit the knife that was used to kill so many of his friends. He didn't scream, though. He didn't scream as it went into his heart. It didn't hurt. What hurt the most…?

Was hearing Meg scream.


	27. So Long, Goodnight

**This is shorter but... you know... next chapter is the last one...**

**Let me know what you think.**

**-Jasmine**

In case you aren't aware, dead bodies smell very bad. Meg closed her eyes and held back the vomit. She saw the images of the dead even when she closed her eyes. The pictures would not stop torturing her. They pestered her. Dead. Dale. Sam. Darry. Steve. Johnny. Tyler. Adam. Gigi. Sodapop. …Ponyboy.

Ponyboy Curtis died without ever knowing how much Meg loved him. Ponyboy Curtis died thinking she hated him. Better yet, Ponyboy Curtis died... hating her.

Meg opened her eyes and looked down at the bodies. Ponyboy was right in front of her. How he managed to trip and land _on_ the knife, Meg wasn't sure. Meg wasn't sure how any of this even happened.

Blood was everywhere. It was soaking into her shoes. Amazingly, she was wearing white shoes. How perfect. Who's blood was this? Tyler's? Johnny's? Gigi's? Ponyboy's? Did it even matter?

Did anything even matter?

Robber 4 was babbling to her, but it was like Meg couldn't hear him. She couldn't hear anything. Everything was in black and white. Except for the dead bodies. Except for the blood. That was still bright red.

Meg saw flashing blue lights coming down the street. Had someone been smart enough to call the police? Had Robber 4 turned himself in? Had someone been on the streets and saw the horrors?

Robber 3 was still on the ground next to Pony's corpse and was just dying. Meg knew because he was still in black and white. Meg wasn't sure how her mind knew, but when he suddenly became colorful, she knew he was dead.

Meg looked at the man. She crouched down next to him and looked him right in the eyes. She put her fingers on them and closed the lids.

Did this man have a family? Did he have a wife or a girlfriend? Was there someone sitting up at home, waiting for him to come? Or did he have no one? Did he do this because he had no one? Again, Meg wasn't sure.

Meg looked at the bodies and felt pain. Complete and utter pain. Maybe the boys would be back in the book. Would they remember? Would they remember the pain? Their love? Their devotion?

If they boys didn't really die, why did the girls bother? Why did they even go into the book in the first place? The girls would be dead. They would always be dead.

Robber 4 was still yelling at her. What was he saying? Was he saying sorry? Was he apologizing for starting all the murders? He was the one who killed Dale first. He was the one who started the panic. He was the one who ruined everything.

The police had arrived now and were taking care of Robber 4. He was talking to them, apologizing? Would he apologizing to the police, too? Meg wouldn't know; she was never able to read lips.

The paramedics were checking out the bodies now, recording things. Meg then realized that she was laying on the floor. There was blood all over her, she looked like she was dead, too. Was she dead? She looked down at her hand, It was not colorful. Too bad; being dead would be easier.

Huh, being dead would be easier. She still had a few minutes. She and Pony were towards the back of the store; the paramedics would get there last. Well, they would get to Dale last. Meg turned to Ponyboy.

"What do you think?" she whispered. She couldn't even hear herself talk. Pony would want her dead. Whether it was because he hated her, or because he really did love her and wanted to be with her.

It didn't matter. She was going to do it no matter what Ponyboy said. She was going to do it no matter what anyone said. Meg gently flipped over Ponyboy and took the knife out of his chest. She locked eyes with Robber 4.

Robber 4 realized what was happening too late. Meg watched him scream, though she heard nothing. She watched the paramedics rush over to her to stop her. He was too late. They were all too late. Too late to let the others live. Too late to let her live.

Too late to stop her from plunging the knife that killed so many into her own heart.


	28. Goodnight, Dr Death

**The last installment of this story. I hope you all enjoyed the ride! Thanks for all the reviews, you guys are amazing.**

**Oh and one last thing... your reviews for the last chapter... they amused me. And they also made me post this chapter... now... so... AARDVARK.**

**-Jasmine**

The morning was sweet and peaceful. There were birds singing outside. The sun was shining! It was like nothing in the world could go wrong. It was like nothing in the world had ever gone wrong. The Curtis household was quiet. No one was awake yet. It was a Sunday, no one had work. Not even Darry. Everyone was taking advantage of this and trying to sleep in.

Darry was the first to wake up. He groaned and hit his alarm clock to turn it off. He swung his feet over and stood up. Oh boy, did he hurt. It was like he had just gotten hit by a truck. Darry didn't know if he should apply heat or ice. He didn't even know where it hurt the most.

"I'm gonna have to get Sodapop to rub my back. I guess I really am working too hard." Darry muttered to himself. That would teach him a lesson about taking too many shifts. Darry slid his feet across the carpeted floor of his bed room and pulled on some pants. He didn't bother with a shirt. It was way too hot out, anyways.

Darry passed his brothers' room and banged on the door a few good times. Hollering a,

"Get up!" before heading in to the kitchen and starting breakfast. He looked in the icebox. They had plenty of eggs, but they had eggs for breakfast all well. Darry decided that it would be a good day for some toast and turned on the oven.

After a few minutes Sodapop walked into the kitchen holding his stomach.

"Hey, Darry?" He asked, "Where's the aspirin?" Darry gave his little a confused look and pointed at the top of the icebox where a small basket of medication sat.

"Why?" He asked. Sodapop shook his head.

"My stomach really hurts." He told him.

"Did you eat something funny last night?" He wondered.

"Not like that," Sodapop explained, "It's like I got a spear to the stomach."

"Odd."

"Morning, guys." Ponyboy greeted as he walked in the kitchen as well. Both Darry and Soda called out in greeting. Soda was just putting the aspirin back when Pony took it from his hands.

"What's wrong with you?" Darry asked and laid the toast on the table along with some orange juice and coffee.

"Way to mix it up, Dar." Sodapop muttered but no one paid him any mind.

"My chest hurts." Pony explained. Darry squinted his eyes in confusion.

"You know, mine does, too." He said, "That and my whole back." Pony offered some pills and Darry grudgingly accepted them.

"Your back hurts because you've been working too hard." Soda pointed out, his mouth overflowing with toast.

"Chew first, buddy." Darry told him and went back to making more toast. There was a loud bang and Pony knew that Steve or Two-Bit was there.

"Honey, I'm home!" Two-Bit called. Pony rolled his eyes and took a bite of his own toast. Though it was ripped out of his mouth by Two-bit and his other piece of toast was grabbed by Steve.

"No guys, go ahead," Pony muttered to himself, "I wasn't even that hungry anyways..." Steve walked over to Darry who had put the aspirin down on the counter next to him.

"Oh! Aspirin, perfect!" He said and dry swallowed about five. Darry rolled his eyes.

"You don't need that many, Steve. Just take two next time." He advised. Steve shook his head.

"Oh yes I do. I have the worst headache in this history of headaches." He announced.

"Worse than," Two-Bit butt in, his mouth full of food, "Than that Forth of July party where you-"

"Yes, Two-bit. Worse than that."

"Intense." He commented and went back to his food. The door slammed loudly again and Ponyboy noticeably flinched. Dallas Winston sauntered in.

"Mornin' Dal." Steve called and Dallas nodded his head in his direction before sitting at the table and drinking some orange juice. Johnny followed closely behind.

"Hey, Darry?" He asked. The gang went pretty quiet and Darry asked,

"Yea, Johnnycake?" Johnny almost blushed at the nickname.

"Do you have any aspirin?" Darry nodded and handed over the bottle.

"What is with everyone needing aspirin today?" He wondered aloud.

"I don't know." Steve said, "But I do know that I feel like I got hit by a truck." Steve's head was down on the table and he watched as a drip of water slid down the side of his glass.

"Well... okay then." Soda commented and went into the living room, "Come on, Steve. Lay down, maybe that will help." Steve nodded and followed him; rubbing his temples. He lay down on the couch and propped his feet up right next to Soda's face.

"Well, golly, Steve!" Soda said, "I didn't know you had a tattoo!" Steve gave Soda a weak annoyed look.

"What are you babbling about, I don't have a tattoo." The rest of the gang came into the living room now. They all wanted to hear about Steve's tattoo.

"Yes you do! I see it, it's right here on the bottom on your foot."

"No, I don't." Steve argued. Two-Bit walked over and looked at Steve's foot.

"Yea you do, buddy," He told him, "What's that say?" He squinted his eyes, "Adam Avion?" Steve gave him a confused look and looked at his own foot. There is was in fine, small black script.

_ Adam Avion_

"What the hell?" Everyone started to laugh. Whether it was because of Steve's confusion or the fact that he had a tattoo on the bottom of his foot, no one really knew.

"Who is he, Steve?" Soda asked between laughing gasps for breath, "Your boyfriend?"


End file.
